


Best Laid Plans

by SadinaSaphrite, tearsontherocks



Series: Best Laid Plans of Meowth and Men [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Himbo Leon, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Major Character Injury, Piers ships it and can't wait to be left alone, Piers/Raihan Friends with Benefits, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:01:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22640713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadinaSaphrite/pseuds/SadinaSaphrite, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tearsontherocks/pseuds/tearsontherocks
Summary: “Y’just need to ask him out, mate.”“No. It wouldn’t work. Neither of us have any time and it would be a distraction from our jobs and the press would turn it into a big scandal…”Piers stuck another cigarette between his lips.“Never took you for a coward, Raihan.”It's time for the Galar Gym Challenge and Raihan has a gym to run, but Raihan is determined to tell Leon how he feels. Nothing, not the press, not the Chairman, not even an apocalyptic pokemon is going to get in his way. However, the best laid plans of meowth and men often go awry...
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers
Series: Best Laid Plans of Meowth and Men [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728991
Comments: 77
Kudos: 501





	1. Chapter 1

Wind whipped across Raihan’s face as the familiar square skyline of Spikemuth came into view. He gave Flygon a pat on the neck, and the pokemon let out a trill that was swallowed by the wind rushing past them and put on a burst of speed. It wasn’t long before they reached the grungy brick walls. Flygon trumpeted out a single warbling note announcing their arrival, and made a slow, spiraling descent, landing in a grassy patch outside the aluminum gates. 

Raihan hopped off Flygon and rubbed the pokemon’s head in gratitude. 

“Nice work! You want back in the ball or do you wanna hang out?” Raihan pulled the ultra ball off his belt and gave it a wave. 

Flygon crooned and spread his wings, taking off in a flurry of wind and alighted on the town walls, settling in for some sun basking. 

“Yo, Rotom. How are we looking?”

With a buzz, his Rotom phone zipped out of his hoodie pocket and did a quick flyby, circling Raihan. 

“Hair’s a mess, bzzt, and bandana's coming undone!”

The Rotom talked him through straightening up, then vanished again into his hoodie pocket once satisfied. Running his fingers through his hair one more time, Raihan stuck his hands in his pockets and slouched through the gates. 

Spikemuth, unlike literally any other city Raihan knew of, was completely enclosed, the brick walls extending to form a tight ceiling over the entire town. The speculation was that it had initially been a giant fortress to a paranoid Duke, not a town, but time had repurposed it into a tight-knit community. He passed row after row of densely packed buildings, illuminated only by neon and wavering street lamps, until the familiar chain link fence of the Spikemuth Gym came into view. 

“Hey, Piers!” He shouted, paying no heed to the looks he got from the bystanders loitering nearby. “You around?”

“Oi, Piers!” a thick, mohawked man echoed, the sound carrying significantly farther than Raihan’s initial shout. “Someone’s ‘ere to see ya!”

With a groan, Piers emerged from behind the humble stage in the arena, rubbing his spiky head. “Yeah, yeah, I heard ya… who the hell is it?” He stopped in his tracks upon seeing Raihan, squinting at him with his dark-lidded eyes. “Well, look what the Meowth dragged in…”

He turned on his metal heel, making his way back toward the stage. “Whaddya want, Raihan? Show’s not for another few weeks.”

“You know I love your music as much as any other fan-the last concert was _amazing,_ by the way-but I’m here on League business,” Raihan said, heading for Piers. “You have somewhere we can talk?”

Another groan escaped Piers’ stick-thin frame, and he tilted his head back in a show of exasperation. “How d’ya like that… sweet talkin’ a guy right before ya nail ‘im.” He bent down and picked up his jacket from off the stage, slipping it on as he kept walking. “C’mon, we’ll go to my place. Not like I got an office or anythin’.”

He led Raihan back beyond the soft glow of the stage’s neon lights into a back alleyway lit only by a few flickering lamps lining its concrete walls. It took him a full thirty seconds to go through the process of fishing out his key and getting the door to his flat open, and he yawned as he meandered inside.

“What’s this about League business? You finally comin’ to fire me?” Piers muttered, sounding almost hopeful as he flopped onto a very old, creaky couch in the living room.

“Of course not!” Raihan dropped into his usual spot on the couch next to him, stretching and throwing one foot onto the coffee table. “Opening Ceremonies are next week, and I’m trying to get you to actually show up this year. Put on a good show for all the challengers.”

Rolling his head to one side, Piers gave Raihan an unimpressed look. “If the Chairman wants t’put on a respectable show, then he definitely doesn’t want _me_ there.”

“Don’t say that,” Raihan said. “We’ve been over this. You’re important to the League! You’re an excellent trainer and an irreplaceable Gym Leader.”

“Sure,” Piers grumbled, “the only Gym Leader who won’t dynamax don’t make his fancy League less pretty? It ain't no secret that I’m the black Wooloo in the bunch, mate.”

“You’re not still bitter about that proposal to move your gym the Chairman put through last year, are you?” Raihan asked, dropping his leg off the coffee table and sitting up. “Because that’s ancient history. None of the other Leaders think any less of you for not having a dynamax site. If anything, it shows just how impressive you are, being able to whip our asses without dyanamaxing your pokemon! Besides, isn’t your little sister entering this year? Don’t you want to be there for her?”

Piers’ pale eyes slid away from Raihan’s gaze, and he fiddled with his spiked collar. “‘Course I wanna be there for her. But I also don’t wanna soil her chances. She’s gonna shine way brighter than I ever could.”

“All the more reason for you to come and support her,” Raihan persisted, but his tone was more gentle.

Piers anxiously tugged on the ring of his spiked collar, still not looking at Raihan. “Nah, mate… don’ wanna embarrass her.” He yanked harder on the ring, grudgingly adding, “Don’ wanna embarrass anyone by showin’ up.”

“You’re not an embarrassment,” Raihan insisted, but he knew he sounded like a broken record. “And I’m going to keep saying it until you believe it. None of the Leaders think you’re an embarrassment, and Marnie _certainly_ doesn’t.”

“Listen, Raihan,” Piers said, finally looking back at him, “I got no plans t’go to that fancy ceremony. All you chaps do is walk out and wave anyway.” It was his turn to put both booted feet on the coffee table with two heavy clunks. “Plus, they hate it when I won’t let ‘em do me up pretty for the telly.”

“That’s because they’re jealous that you’re pretty enough already,” Raihan grinned, elbowing Piers in the side.

A yelp escaped Piers at the gesture and he jumped, soon rubbing his side and grumbling again. “Oh yeah, I’m sure that’s what the make-up lady was thinkin’ when she called me a ‘raccoon-faced Mareanie’...”

“Maybe it was a compliment? Who cares about her opinion anyway? What matters is that I think you’re pretty,” Raihan’s grin widened.

“Why’s that matter, then, eh?” Piers shot back, “‘Specially when you only come to visit to talk League stuff or gawk at me while I’m tryin’ to put on a good show.”

“C’mon,” Raihan said easily, recognizing the surly tone. They’d played this game many times before, and he knew the steps well. “You know that’s not true. Yeah, I’ve been busy for a few weeks, but I was over here just last month.”

“Tch, how could I forget?” Piers said, making a vague gesture with one hand. “You ate half of my kitchen. Plus that curry you ordered in.” One steel-toed boot tapped in the air to a rhythm that only Piers could hear. 

“I could always order curry in again,” Raihan said. “Unless you’re just going to kick me out. Then I’ll just fly back to Hammerlocke, eat curry all alone…”

“Don’t tempt me, mate,” Piers said, finally looking back over at him. “You eat enough for both of us anyway.” There was another heavy clunk as he crossed his legs on the coffee table, the top-most toe still tapping. “Real shame to have to head back with the good news that ‘ol Piers won’t be comin’ to the ceremony, too.”

“Here’s an idea. How about I tell the League that you have a perfectly valid excuse for not being able to make it to the Opening Ceremonies, and in exchange, we...order in dinner again tonight.”

Raihan gave Piers a sideways glance. Piers returned the look with one of his own.

“You tryin’ t’bribe me? ‘Cause that usually entails both folks gettin’ somethin’ outta the deal.”

“What, you don’t like free dinner?”

“Nothin’ in life is free, mate.”

Raihan leaned in close, a gleam in his eyes. “Is there something you want?”

Piers’ gaze stayed as level as ever, looking right back into Raihan’s eyes, not recoiling from the intrusion into his space, but also not further closing the gap between them. “Seems a lot like there’s somethin’ _you_ want… and it ain’t curry.”

Raihan met Piers’ unflinching gaze, holding it for a long moment before, like usual, he broke first. His grin faltered. Was he being too pushy? Maybe this time Piers really _did_ want to be left alone. Especially after talking about all the League stuff, Raihan _knew_ Piers was self-conscious of how he was viewed in comparison to the other Gym Leaders, and though the other Leaders accepted him, there were a lot of critics among the fans and analysts, idiots with really loud voices, and what with Marnie entering as a challenger this year, then maybe…

“I...you know, I really could just go. If you want,” he said, all pretense gone from his voice.

A tiny, rare smile found the edge of Piers’ lips and he rolled his eyes. “If I wanted y’gone, I wouldn’t’ve brought you home, you git.”

Raihan’s eyes lit up with renewed hope and he slid closer across the worn couch into Piers’ space.

“You saying you’re fine with...staying in?”

Piers raised an eyebrow at him, still doing nothing to stop Raihan’s advances, but not reciprocating yet either. “When do I ever want to go _out?”_

That startled a laugh out of Raihan. 

“Then you won’t mind if I get comfortable?” He slid an arm around Piers’ thin shoulders.

“Guess not,” Piers said, his shoulders sagging even more than usual under the weight of Raihan’s arm. “Were you gonna order that curry, or am I not even gettin’ cheap takeout from this?”

“I see you have your priorities in order,” Raihan said dryly, and fished his phone out of a pocket with his free hand. “The usual?”

The motion was miniscule, but more than noticeable enough to Raihan as Piers shifted slightly to lean against him. “Yeah, the usual.” 

He put the order in and grinned.

“Hey Piers. Gimme a smile?” He snapped a picture.

Piers did not, in fact, smile. He did, however, at least look up at the phone for the picture.

“Still snappin’ those selfies, eh?” Piers droned, watching Raihan’s Rotom phone flip through various photo filters.

“You know it. But don’t worry, this one’s for the personal collection,” Raihan said, settling on a filter he liked.

“Hm,” Piers toned, eyes still on Raihan’s phone, “aren’t those all the ones to keep track of your defeats?”

Raihan blanched. 

“Awful rude of you, judging a man by his photo albums.”

“Nah, lucky for you, I judge a man by his actions. Comin’ into a guy’s home, tryin’ to get him out to some awful ceremony, and not even managing that. Doesn’t give a guy a lotta hope that such a man’d last through much more than takeout curry.”

“That so?” Raihan said, too casually, and pocketed his phone. “Is that a challenge?”

Piers shrugged, moving Raihan’s arm along with the motion. “All I’m sayin’ is that you keep goin’ down this road, and you’ll definitely have another selfie to take.”

“Of all the damn- You asshole,” Raihan growled and moved in for a kiss.

Raihan’s lips met Piers’ infuriating smirk, and finally he reciprocated, reminding Raihan that his pouty mouth was skilled in more than just song. One gloved hand grabbed the front pocket of Raihan’s hoodie, holding him there but not urging him closer. Raihan’s arm tightened around Piers’s shoulders, then pulled him forward into his lap. 

After all the tease and frustration of their previous conversation, Piers’ mouth was doing wonders at getting Raihan to relax again. He sank into the back of the couch, letting his hands rest lightly on Piers’ hips. They swayed slightly as he held onto them, as Piers got more comfortable on his lap.

With a soft sound, their lips parted, and Piers let out a sigh. He met Raihan’s eyes, and there was finally that small, familiar spark in them that only seemed to ignite for three occasions. Battles, concerts, and…

“Still up for that challenge, dragon tamer?” Piers quipped.

Raihan smirked. 

“I thought you’d never ask.” 

He lunged forward, lips crashing against Piers’, wanting more of that talented mouth for himself, eager for everything and anything Piers was willing to give him. 

They never did hear the doorbell, and the curry sat on the front porch, forgotten.

* * *

Raihan...needed a moment. Maybe a few moments. Like any good performer, Piers was a man of many talents, and the second act was always better than the first. Raihan didn’t know how long he lay with his face pressed into Piers’ bedspread, but he eventually had the sense to roll over. He sprawled on his back and still panted as he came down from the high.

“Well,” he said between breaths, dark skin covered in a fine sheen of sweat. “You sure showed me.”

Piers took a long drag on his cigarette and let it out slowly, letting the smoke lazily shift in the air above them. He let the silence linger a bit with the smoke before he spoke.

“You asked for it.” He took another, shorter drag this time, letting this one out with a sigh. His arms rested on his spindly legs as he sat cross-legged on his bed, fiddling a bit with the cigarette between his fingers.

Raihan made a face as the smell of cigarette smoke reached him. 

“Do you have to do that here? Every time?”

Piers snorted. “This is my house, you knob-head.”

Raihan sighed, but didn’t argue.

“What time is it? Where’s my phone?” He looked around half heartedly, but his hoodie was still back in the living room, far out of reach. He dropped back against the bed with a groan. 

“Phooooone…” He whined, significantly louder, hoping his Rotom would hear him.

“Ya lazy lump,” Piers chided, “Always workin’ that poor Rotom t’death.”

“He knew what he was getting into when he took the job.”

As if on cue, Raihan’s Rotom phone flew into the room.

“Selfieszzt?” It asked, utterly unconcerned with their state of undress.

“Nah, just wanna check my texts.”

Obediently, the phone flew to Raihan’s outstretched hand and went quiet, letting him scroll through his messages.

Several more smoky shapes escaped past Piers’ lips as Raihan played on his phone. Piers’ pale eyes followed the vapors until they dissipated into nothing, his normally vacant expression leaning toward thoughtful.

“Oh hey,” Raihan broke the silence. “Leon says he’s officially endorsed Hop as a challenger this year.”

Piers’ eyebrows rose a fraction. “Yeah? Hell… dunno why I never put t’gether that he’n Marnie were that close’n age.” He took one last drag on his cigarette before putting it out in an ashtray on the bedside table. “I’m bettin’ that’s all Leon’s been able ta talk about for weeks.”

“Pretty much,” Raihan said, texting as he spoke. “I know he was on the fence about it, didn’t want to make it look like he was endorsing Hop just because he’s his brother. Seems like there’s another kid in Postwick that’s gonna keep Hop on his toes, though.”

He fell silent, texting out another reply, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Lee’s over the moon about it. Says Hop’s got himself a genuine rival.”

Raihan kept his fond smile as he read Leon’s texts, reading them over and over as he waited for a reply.

One glance at Raihan, and Piers’ hand was twitching back toward the box of cigarettes on his night stand.

“Textin’ your crush while still sore from your squeeze?” Piers asked, ultimately fingering the cig box but nothing else. “Most folks might get a bit narked ‘bout that, y’know.”

“Good thing you’re not most folks,” Raihan replied automatically. A beat passed before his brain caught up to his mouth and a flush crept over his cheeks. “And he’s not my crush!”

A surprised snort came from Piers, his tone incredulous.

“You really gonna try lyin’ to my face like that, mate? You’ve been ogling that gormless git for years. Longer than we’ve been snoggin’, that’s for sure.”

Raihan sputtered. 

“I… he…it’s not… look, it’s just that… I mean, I’ve got a gym to run and he’s so busy being Champion, there’s no way we could just… and besides, it’s not like Leon would ever notice.”

Raihan couldn’t hold back the sharp tang of bitterness in his voice and hunched his shoulders, slouching against the backboard. Piers looked unimpressed.

“Y’just need to ask him out, mate.”

Raihan stubbornly refused to acknowledge the flush still darkening his cheeks, or that it was spreading to his ears. 

“No. It wouldn’t work. Neither of us have any time and it would be a distraction from our jobs and the press would turn it into a big scandal…”

Piers seemed to have finally made up his mind and stuck another cigarette between his lips, fishing around for his lighter, speaking around the stick in his mouth.

“Never took you for a coward, Raihan.”

The words were said in such a casual, matter-of-fact tone that Raihan bristled.

“I am _not_ a coward,” he snarled. “I’m only…” 

He trailed off, and his anger faded just as quickly as it flared in the face of Piers’ unimpressed look.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I’m afraid. I’m afraid that after years of pining after him, Leon doesn’t and never will feel the same way. I’m afraid of rejection. I’m afraid that if I tell him I want to be more than friends, it’ll go bad and I’ll lose him. I’d rather be friends and wish for something more than not have Leon in my life at all.”

He sighed and rested his head against the headboard.

“I’m a joke.”

“Y’ain’t a joke, Raihan,” Piers said smoothly, even as his fingers tried for the fifth time to light the cigarette in his mouth. “Yer just a bit of a git.” He finally gave up on the cigarette for the moment, pointing the lighter at him, the motion similar to a scolding schoolteacher. “Always usin’ yer knob ‘steada yer head.”

Raihan gave him a sideways glance. 

“So you’re saying I should go for it? What if it goes badly?”

“Y’really think that Leon’s jus’ gonna never speak to ya again after one misstep?” Piers’ gaze got more intense. “Is your friendship really _that_ weak?”

Raihan fell silent for a few long moments.

“No,” he finally said, and he knew in his heart that he was right. “It isn’t.”

“Damn right,” Piers said firmly, trying to use his intensity to start the lighter again. It didn’t work. He sighed, and waved the lighter in front of Raihan, a pout offsetting the cigarette in his mouth comedically. “Be a dear an’ light this thing for me, would’ja?”

Raihan let out a short laugh and took the lighter.

“This is a bad habit, you know that, right?” Raihan said, but he started the lighter on the first try and held it up to Piers’ cigarette.

Piers leaned in, lighting up and let out a sigh, leaning against Raihan instead of on the backboard. “Yeah, well… s’not the only bad habit I have.”

Raihan slung an arm around Piers and kissed his cheek. 

“Let’s just say that I only appreciate some of your bad habits,” he trailed his fingers absently along Piers’ bare shoulder. “Thank you. Really.”

A ghost of a smile lingered on Piers’ face for a moment. “Don’t mention it, mate.”

Raihan grinned and gave Piers another kiss on the cheek, then another to his neck, longer this time. Raihan was just about to propose a third round when the Rotom phone buzzed in his hand.

“Sorry, Boss! But it’s getting late and you’ve got an appointment at seven tomorrow morning! Bzzt!”

Raihan groaned and buried his face into Piers’ shoulder.

A snort of laughter escaped Piers, resting a hand on Raihan’s head. “Leave it to you t’get a cock-blockin’ Rotom, hm?”

“Bzzt, he wouldn’t get anything done otherwise!”

“Alright, alright. Cut the sass, you lot,” Raihan sighed and reluctantly let Piers go. He clambered off the bed and started hunting down the rest of his clothing, strewn throughout Piers’ flat.

Piers watched him, making no move to get dressed himself, working more slowly at his second cigarette than he had his first. As Raihan wandered into the living room to get his hoodie and shoes, a soft melody drifted out of the bedroom. For all his bad habits, Piers’ voice was still clear as crystal when he willed it. The tune was meandering as Piers worked out a new song through the smoke. Raihan smiled as he dressed, familiar with many of Piers' quirks by now, including his tendency to compose in the wake of their afterglow. 

“I’ll see you around,” Raihan said, getting his bandana back in place. 

“Later, Raihan,” Piers droned between notes, giving him a small wave through the open bedroom door.

The flight back to Hammerlocke was uneventful, Flygon more than adept at flying at night, especially with a brilliant full moon above them, but Raihan hardly noticed, lost in thought the entire way back.

He’d do it. He’d confess his feelings to Leon and then...and then something. He’d play it by ear. But he was going to tell Leon how he felt. 

Eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an attempt is made, and a text is sent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look. Look, we promise this is Leon/Raihan fic, not a Piers/Raihan fic. We're getting there, we promise.

Getting a chance to see Leon was easier said than done, much less getting him alone. The week before Opening Ceremonies was extremely busy for both of them. On top of preparing for the tournament, Leon was swarmed for interviews, especially considering he gave his first endorsements ever to his brother and some unknown kid from Postwick. Raihan had four endorsements he promised to the Finalists of the Hammerlock Junior League Tournament, and supervising the tournament sucked up a significant amount of time. They texted sporadically, but Raihan didn’t actually see Leon in person until the Opening Ceremonies, and even then, he wasn’t able to corner him until the ceremony was over.

There he was, chatting with the Chairman in one corner of the exclusive locker room. He stood with his hands on his hips in his wide stance, imposing despite his average height, and offset by thick, well-honed muscles. And there was that stupid charming grin he always wore, ever since they were kids, bright enough to light up a whole pitch on its own.

Leon was nodding at something Rose said, then waved slightly as the Chairman turned to leave. 

“Keep in touch!” Leon said to Rose’s back before he turned around, taking in the rest of the locker room. He quickly spotted Raihan and jogged over.

“Raihan!!” Leon beamed, positive energy absolutely radiating from him. “Great show out there! The crowd really loved it!!”

Raihan grinned wide, Leon’s energy infectious as always. “It’s gonna be a good season this year. Lots of good challengers! How’s Hop been holding up?”

“He’s doing great!” said Leon, squaring his shoulders and obvious pride in his voice. “He’s got more than enough passion to give everyone a serious run for their money! And if he learns to focus all that mad energy, then I think he’s got a real good chance of making it to me!”

“At which point, you’ll let him down easy, right?” Raihan winked.

Leon laughed brightly, planting his fists back on his hips. “As easy as I can! But that kid’s tough, I wouldn’t count him out just yet.”

Leon’s laugh could banish the clouds from the sky and make the sun rise, and Raihan was helpless under that bright, sunny deposition. His heart fluttered in his chest and he smiled all the wider for it. Arceus and Sky Dragons, how was he supposed to function with a man this charismatic? 

“I can’t wait to see him in the Hammerlocke Gym! Don’t think I’ll go easy on him, though!”

“You’d better not!” Leon mock-scolded him. “He deserves a fair fight against my greatest rival just as much as I do!” He tossed some of his unruly mane out of the way, still grinning. “Speaking of, our match this year was _amazing!_ We didn’t really get a chance to chat afterward, since it was the kickoff to the season.”

“Oh, it was so good!” Raihan beamed. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t starting to sweat when Goodra took out your Haxorus. And when the _hell_ did you find the time to teach Charizard Solar Beam? That took me by complete surprise!”

Leon grinned mischievously, tapping the brim of his snapback slightly. “Gotta keep you on your toes, Raihan! Especially with my old mate Charizard. You knew all his moves already, so we knew we had to shake things up this year if we were going to keep a leg up on your team!”

“Well, it worked! I think Flygon’s still cross, but he’ll get over it.”

Raihan’s heart swelled. This was it. This was what he was after. Spending every day with his best friend, talking about pokemon and the sport they loved, living the rest of his life waking up to Leon’s beautiful smile.

“Hey, Lee. Do you wanna go grab dinner?”

“Dinner?” Leon asked thoughtfully, as if thoughts beyond their battle hadn’t even occurred to him, but he soon grinned and nodded. “Oh yeah, that sounds great! I think I could eat a whole Gyarados, I’m so hungry!”

“Awesome,” Raihan replied. Tonight was the night. After this, everything would be different. Would be _better._ By tomorrow, he and Leon would be— 

“Ah, did I hear you kids were thinking about dinner? I’m famished.”

Kabu jogged toward them, a towel over his shoulders.

Oh no.

“Hey Kabu!” Leon said jovially. “Yeah, Raihan and I were just talking about dinner. I’m sure you know a place with real scrummy food, right?”

No, don’t.

“I do indeed,” Kabu said with a small smile and nod, “I’d be happy to show you both there. I must admit, I’d hate to be a poor host to any of my fellow Leaders, would you mind if I invited the others as well?” He glanced between the two, genuine inquiry on his face.

Don’t you dare.

“Not at all!!” Leon piped up long before Raihan even had a chance to respond. “Hey, everyone! Let’s all do dinner to celebrate the new Gym Challenge season! My treat!”

_Dammit._

Raihan sighed as gym leaders headed over, laughing and chatting with each other, but he couldn’t help a wistful smile at how happy Leon looked.

Next time. He’d get him next time.

* * *

“Next time” proved to be much too far away for Raihan’s liking. A full week had passed since the Opening Ceremonies, but Leon was so busy between press, his own strict training regime, and whatever the hell Chairman Rose wanted him for that Raihan hadn’t seen him once since they’d both been in Motostoke. Raihan, on the other hand, found himself with nothing to do. He was the last gym leader the challengers faced before the bracket tournament, and all reports said that the fastest trainers had only reached Opal in Ballonlea. His personally trained staff—Sebastian, Camillia, and Aria—were ready to defend his Gym, and now they just had to wait for challengers to come to them. 

And Raihan _hated_ waiting.

He’d already finished his regular training for the day, and it wasn’t fair to overwork his pokemon just because he was bored. Fortunately, Piers’s gym was right before his in the challenge lineup, so that meant Piers was likely also burdened with an abundance of free time, and Spikemuth was only a short flight away. 

As he strode into the Spikemuth Gym, he was greeted by a flurry of activity and in the center of it was Piers, directing the traffic of people around, posture less droopy today as he took charge and ordered people about. He called out to two people carrying a giant speaker, pointing toward the stage.

“Right up there, on the left side-nah, the _left_ side!” Piers made a strained noise as the two jostled the speaker, nearly fumbling it, and instantly his voice was at a bellow, “I TOLD YEH LOT T’BE CAREFUL! D’ya got rocks in yer head?!” He let out a few more colorful curses as he went over himself to help get the speaker safely in its rightful place.

Raihan slid past a gaggle of roadies carrying a hefty coil of cables and headed for Piers.

“Piers! Hey, Piers! What’s all the fuss?”

“Eh, Raihan?” Piers questioned, looking over at him as he shooed off the two people that had nearly dropped his speaker. “I ain’t got time for shit today, ma-Arceus, would y’ _please_ be more careful?!” He dashed over to another pair that were struggling with a box of various sound equipment pieces. “This shit’s expensive, y’know!”

Raihan rushed onto the stage, helping Piers steady the large box before the grunts could overbalance and send the whole group toppling off the stage.

Piers let out a sigh as Raihan took hold of the box and frowned at the two groupies. “We got this one, go clean somethin’, would’ja?” He grunted as the two fled and left just himself and Raihan holding the box, but he held his own weight, especially considering his spindly frame. “Damn shitstorm here, Raihan, it’s gone right pear-shaped.”

“What happened? I thought everything was ready to go.” Raihan looked around at the commotion all around them, grunts hauling boxes and equipment in every direction, some arguing with each other over what goes where, further adding to the chaos.

“It _was,_ ” Piers snapped, the volume of his voice usually corresponding with how angry he was, which at the moment, seemed to be more than decently irate. “Had things lookin’ all nice’n pretty for the challengers, but then some _absolute prat_ got thinkin’ it’d be a jolly good idea t’bring an _untrained Loudred_ onto my set!!” He was trembling now, though judging by how steady the heavy box still was in his arms, it wasn’t because he was getting tired from holding it. “An untrained Loudred that made friends with a _pisspoorly trained Toxtricity,_ and y’can probably be guessin’ what came a’that!!”

His voice was coming out at a loud snarl by the end, and two grunts who overheard him ducked out of the way. Despite his anger, Piers still set down the box very gently, and double checked the equipment inside to be sure it was undamaged.

Raihan could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Piers this angry. Maybe visiting Spikemuth was a bad idea.

“Oof. Well,” Raihan took a step back. “It seems like you’re pretty busy, so I don’t want to get in your way...”

Piers’ head snapped up, and he sprang to his feet, gesturing widely. “Hell no, yeh’ve seen this lot, they’ve got less in their heads than you! I could really use yer help with this, mate.”

Raihan stopped. He may have only seen Piers angry a handful of times, but he couldn’t remember the last time Piers had genuinely asked him for help. 

“Alright,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Just tell me what to do.”

Piers’ posture relaxed a few degrees back toward its usual slouch. “Thanks a lot, mate. Now, we need to get these speakers set up along here…”

With Raihan helping both in heavy lifting and the wrangling of Spikemuth citizens, the hullabaloo steadily started to subside. The stage was starting to look more like it usually did, and as things came back together, so did Piers. 

“Great, yeah, right there,” Piers toned at Raihan as they worked on making one set of the horizontal neon lights level with the others. “Lookin’ great. Just four more, an’ the lighting’ll be done.”

With the stage mostly set up again, the arena emptied out, the last few grunts finishing their tasks and leaving. Raihan wiped a line of sweat from his brow and then hefted his end of the next neon light up. He’d abandoned both his hoodie and bandana once he started working up a sweat from all the heavy lifting, leaving them hanging off the chain link fence. As such, he didn’t notice the insistant buzzing of his phone until Rotom finally took the initiative to fly out of the hoodie himself and hover near Raihan’s face.

“Hey, Boss! You’ve got new messagezzt!”

“What? Not now, bud, I’m busy.”

“But they’re from Leon!”

Raihan’s head snapped around, craning to look at the screen hovering next to him. “Yeah? Show me!”

A groan came from Piers, and he leaned back a little ways in his exasperation. “We’re _so close_ t’bein’ done, Raihan…an’ don’t ya _dare_ drop that light!”

Three messages waited on Raihan’s phone, the most recent of which was a photo. It was a selfie from Leon, holding a tiny little Sobble in one hand up close to his grinning face. The Sobble was nuzzling Leon just slightly and wore a shy smile, a far cry from the constant wibbly expression it had maintained just a few weeks prior.

[Sobble’s doing so great!! He’s really starting to overcome his fears! I think he’s still scared of Charizard, but thankfully he’s warmed right up to me!]

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” Raihan shouted at Piers, but his end of the light dropped as he examined the photo. Leon’s smile was brilliant as always, and he looked so proud of how far the little Sobble had come. Hell. You could give that man a herd of rampaging Tauros and he’d be able to calm them with that soothing voice and that charming smile. Damn him. Raihan’s end of the light dropped further.

“Oi vey,” Piers grumbled, rolling his eyes, “can’t ya shelve yer flights ‘o fancy for fifteen more minutes?” He adjusted the light in his hands to compensate for Raihan’s shifted hold.

A new message came in, even as Piers grumbled. 

[We’re working on his camouflage abilities today, for which he needs water, so it’s been a pretty messy day already haha. Charizard’s been grumpy, but it’s nice to get wet sometimes, no matter what he thinks!]

A minimum of four possible responses popped into Raihan’s mind, all of them inappropriate.

“I’m sorry, it’s Leon!” Raihan shouted back, and lifted the light back to the correct level.

“Oh, I heard,” Piers grumbled back, relaxing a bit as the light leveled out. “Jus’ like a swoonin’ schoolgirl, you are.”

“Put a sock in it!” Raihan snapped, but with no real heat in his voice. He read the text again and groaned. “What am I supposed to say to that?”

“Let’s put up the light, an’ then yeh can figure out what t’say to y’boyo.” Piers tugged slightly on the light, moving over to the concrete wall behind the stage with it. He grunted as they hefted it up, affixing it in place, then Piers scampered out a ways into the arena. “Lemme make sure it’s straight…”

Another text rolled in, and it seemed for a moment that Raihan might have a chance at getting his mind out of the gutter.

[Sorry for the mess of texts, I’m sure you’re real busy. It’s just such a joy to train brand new pokemon! All this on top of the crazy stuff going on this season, it’s got me all worked up!]

Then again, maybe not.

Raihan grabbed the phone and typed out a response before he could stop himself.

[No worries! I love watching you get worked up, haha]

His thumb hovered over the Send button. This was stupid. This was really stupid.

Piers leaned to one side, sighing heavily as he watched Raihan, muttering something under his breath as he ran a hand along his face. “ _Raihan._ ” He toddled over to him, not asking for an invitation as he peered over Raihan’s arm to read what was going on. He let out a snort.

“Really set himself up for that one, didn’ he?” Piers gave Raihan a significant sideways look. “....you gonna send it, or what?”

“No,” Raihan sighed, quickly deleting the message. “We’re not even together, and he wouldn’t get it anyway. Wasn’t even a good innuendo.”

“Tch.” Piers turned away from Raihan, pulling his pack of cigarettes out of his jacket, starting to fish out his lighter. “Y’coward.”

Raihan shot him a sour look, then texted furiously.

[Don’t worry about it! I just wish I could be there getting you worked up too!]

Sent.

Raihan stared at the screen. 

_Shit._

Piers snorted out a laugh as he tapped the cigarette box against his opposite palm. “There ya go. Good t’see yeh finally gettin’ some balls. Ain’t no way he can mistake that.”

“W-wait, really?” Raihan looked down at him. “No, I didn’t really want him to figure it out like this!”

A little icon shifted on the screen, signifying that Leon had read the message. Oh no. Oh, this was stupid. Why did he listen to Piers?

“I _told_ ya, you just gotta tell ‘im. An’ well… if it took doin’ it your usual way, then so be it.” 

Three happy little bubbles appeared, bouncing one after the other, showing that Leon was typing a response.

Panic rose within Raihan, tightening around his chest and churning in his stomach.

“But I don’t _want_ to do this my usual way! He’s more special than that, he’s not some weekend lay or one night stand. He’s not even what we have, Piers! He’s… he’s…”

Piers raised an eyebrow at him, and for his part, didn’t look offended, and his voice was less cutting and more kind.

“...he’s different. Huh.”

Raihan sighed and leaned back against the cement wall. “You’re a good friend, Piers. I like what we have. But yeah. This is different. Leon is…”

A soft ping sounded as Leon’s text arrived.

[Me too! You’re a great workout partner, you’re always getting me fired up and helping me be the very best I can be! Really appreciate it, mate. :) ]

A beat passed as Raihan and Piers both stared at the text.

“An idiot,” Raihan finished. “He’s an idiot. He’s an absolute _moron!_ ” Raihan threw up his hands in frustration and kicked at the concrete ground. “He’s so stupid! Dammit, I love that fucking dumbass _so much!”_

Piers had his head in his hands. “I give up,” he mumbled, “he’s hopeless, yer _both_ hopeless!”

The rocker lit a cigarette in record time, taking a long drag on it as Raihan let out his frustrations.

Raihan raged for another few minutes before he finally sat down on the edge of the stage. 

“Well,” he said. “At least it didn’t blow up in my face.”

“Guess so,” Piers said, taking another long drag before he sat down beside Raihan. “And what if it had worked? What if he’d taken y’up on it?” He squinted at Raihan suspiciously. “Would you even know what to do?”

Raihan gave him a look. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean if he’d _actually said,_ ‘Hell yeah, let’s bone’, would y’even know what to do? Or are y’just a Yamper chasin’ cars?”

“He wouldn’t have,” Raihan said without hesitation. “He’s not like that.”

“He’s not, is he?” Piers said, but he shrugged. “It’s not like _I_ know what our Champion’s sex life is like… make a point not t’know that shit ‘bout most folks. And yeh’d know better’n me what Leon gets up to outside’ve battles.”

“I…” Raihan’s brain shorted out for a moment as he tried to wrap his head around it. “I don’t know. I don’t know what Lee’s sex life is like. I don’t know if he _has_ one.”

The cigarette in Piers’ mouth drooped a bit as he looked at Raihan incredulously.

“...don’t tell me yeh’ve never actually thought about it. Y’ve been pinin’ for this guy for ages… an’ never thought about how you’d go ‘bout breachin’ that subject with him?”

How was it that Piers always knew just what to say to get under his skin?

“Just figured I’d play it by ear,” he muttered, looking away from Piers. 

“I jus’ bring it up ‘cause you’re ah…” he ran a hand through his unruly hair as he searched for the words, speaking rather delicately for once, “...rather driven when it comes t’the sex stuff. Know what y’want an’ go for it. What if… y’know, y’finally make it to that point and it… he isn’t quite what you’re expectin’?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look, I know you an’ I kinda trade off’n shit… but all I’m sayin’ is that losin’ streak of yours with him has gotten you, what?” He made an ‘O’ shape with his gloved hand. “And Leon’s count is…?” He held up another finger beside the ‘O’ shape to spell out ‘10’. “With you’n particular… Leon really, _really_ likes to _win._ ” Piers gave Raihan a knowing look as he made a lewd gesture involving both hands.

Raihan’s gaze flicked from Piers’ hands up to his eyes, turning serious and intent.

“Piers, my dear friend, I appreciate your concern,” he said. “But nothing would make me happier than to get rawed up the ass by Champion Leon.”

“Right, then,” Piers said, dropping his hands, “and what if it goes th’ other way?”

“You mean if the roles were reversed?” Raihan shrugged. “That’s fine, too. What’s your point?”

“No, no,” Piers insisted almost before Raihan was finished speaking, “not that, you git. What if he doesn’t want any at all?”

Raihan fell silent, then looked away. 

“I’ve thought about that,” he said softly. “And if that’s what Lee wants, then...that’s fine. I’ll be disappointed, but that’s not what matters. If giving up sex is the price for being with him, then I’d pay it. I just…” He put a hand over his heart. “I love him. I love him so much that it _hurts._ ”

Piers let out a soft sigh, and nudged Raihan’s arm gently. “Exactly why you gotta _tell him,_ mate. A guy with the world eatin’ out of his hand’s not gonna wanna keep feedin’ it alone forever.”

“That sounds like a song lyric,” Raihan said, “but you’re right. I need to tell him. Last time we got interrupted, but that won’t happen again. Thanks, Piers.”

“‘Course,” he replied, dropping his cigarette down on the cement and stepping on it, “jus’ be sure’n do it before y’lose your nerve, yeah?”

“That’s the plan.” Raihan rose to his feet. “Now, I think we’ve got another few lights to put up?”

“Yeah, just a few more of ‘em,” Piers said, also getting to his feet, stretching a little. “Uh, thanks, by th’ way. For helpin’ out today. It’s um…” he rubbed the back of his neck, not looking at Raihan. “Real good a’ you, ‘specially after I was so pissed earlier…”

“I admit, you almost scared me off,” Raihan teased. “You’re spooky when you’re pissed. Guess you focus on Dark type pokemon for a reason, huh?”

“Damn right,” Piers said, sauntering over toward one of the lights. “An’ you still haven’t seen me _real_ angry.”

“Let’s hope I never do. You’re prickly enough as it is.”

A chuckle escaped Piers, and he gave Raihan a smirk. “Prickly as a Pincurchin, an’ don’t yeh forget it. Let’s get this shit done so y’can go home’n mope, lover boy.”

Raihan shook his head with a smile, but as he helped Piers finish the last of the stage lighting, his mind was far, far away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “In which there is a romantic walk and a history lesson.”

Leon was finally going to be in Hammerlocke. He even texted Raihan and asked if they could meet up. Apparently, Hop and his little rival were getting close to Hammerlocke, and Leon wanted to congratulate them on making it this far. He’d asked Raihan to meet him by the South Gate so they could greet the kids as they entered the city. 

The moment he spotted Leon, he knew something was wrong. 

For one, he was where he said he’d be, on time. But far worse, he was frowning, brows furrowed in concern and worrying his lower lip, his thick arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t notice as Raihan approached, staring off at something only he could see, his gaze vaguely toward the West Gate.

“Hey,” Raihan said as he got closer. “What’s up? Where’s Hop?”

Leon startled, looking over at Raihan, and his troubled expression remained in place. “Hey Raihan. I uh… I saw Hop a little bit ago. But…” He trailed off, concerned expression only intensifying. “He was a bit off.”

“Off? What do you mean?” 

“Well, I spotted him coming into Hammerlocke, and he looked rather downtrodden… so I put on a smile and waved. I hoped I could cheer him up. But he took one look at me and flinched.” Leon winced as he recalled it. “Then he yelled ‘I’m so sorry!!’ at me and took off running as fast as he could toward the West Gate.”

Leon’s broad shoulders slumped.

“...I think he must’ve suffered a pretty crushing loss in battle.”

“The younger brother of the undefeated Champion, out trying to prove himself on his first journey as a trainer,” Raihan mused aloud, “who just got soundly whipped by some punk, and then has to face the big brother he idolizes? Sounds like you’re right on the money, Lee.”

“…he’s never apologized to me for _anything,_ Raihan,” Leon said quietly. He sighed and mussed up his mane of hair in frustration. “How am I supposed to talk to him about this? Anything I say is going to come across as condescending or insincere, since I don’t know what he’s going through very well. Let alone the blow it could deal to his credibility in the Challenge if it seems like I’m favoring or coddling him.”

Raihan folded his arms, thinking for a moment.

“You know… you’re right. It’s a lot to live up to, following in your footsteps. The kid’s got to be under a ton of pressure. I don’t know if you really _can_ talk to him about losing.”

Something crumbled in Leon’s gold eyes, searching Raihan’s intently. “…but then how do I help him? If Hop’s hurting… I _have_ to help!”

“H-hey! No, I didn’t say you couldn’t help! I just said… gah…” Raihan rubbed the back of his head, trying to put what he was thinking into words. Leon’s crushed look was a stab in the heart, and Raihan would be damned if he couldn’t help Leon through this. 

“I’m saying that with all your wins under your belt, it’s probably best not to approach it from that angle. Don’t tell him it’s okay, everyone loses sometimes. Instead, tell him that you’re proud of him, no matter what happens. Tell him all the stuff that you already know is true: he’s strong, he’s smart, he’s kind. Hitting a setback isn't the end. There’s more to being a good pokemon trainer than winning.”

Leon listened to him closely, and nodded slowly along with his words. “Alright, I can give it a go. It’s been incredible to watch him work his way through the Challenge, but… it’s also been really hard to be so hands off.” One of his hands clenched the sleeve of his Champion shirt. “I’d much rather be a brother to him than a Champion right now.”

“He’ll bounce back from this. Hop’s tougher than he seems. He’s a good kid.” Raihan bumped shoulders with Leon and gave him a smile. “And you’re a good big brother.”

Some of Leon’s smile returned.

“Thanks, Raihan. I’m grateful you were here to help me work through this. Hop is a good kid, and he _will_ bounce back from this. I just have to accept that he’ll have to do some of it on his own.”

He let out a deep sigh and readjusted his hat.

“Well, there goes our plans of going to a cafe with Hop,” Leon mused aloud, “I can’t say I’m all that hungry… you have any ideas?”

Oh boy, did Raihan have ideas.

“It’s a nice day,” he said while trying to keep his fluttering heart under control. “We could go on a walk. Let some of the pokemon out?”

More of Leon’s usual bright smile returned to his face, and he nodded.

“That sounds great, nice and relaxing. Hm… who could use a bit of air… Aegislash!” He released the ghostly sword, who hovered in front of them eerily, giving Raihan a familial salute.

Raihan trailed a finger along the ultra balls on his belt, debating for a moment before selecting one. 

“Come on out, Duraludon!” 

The towering pokemon stretched and made a low groan, but perked up abruptly when it spotted Aegislash, the groan fading into a pleased rumble. Aegislash made an unsettling noise, floating over to Duraludon, its one eye squinting slightly in the only smile the sword could manage.

Leon’s smile got that much brighter as he watched their pokemon, and he looked back at Raihan. “You’d better lead the way for the walk, or we’ll end up in Wyndon or something.”

Raihan laughed, “Ain’t that a truth? C’mon, this way.”

He started down the street, enjoying the simplicity of just walking, nowhere to be, nothing to do, for once. He glanced over at Leon. They were walking so close together; he could feel Leon’s presence beside him like the warmth of a furnace. It would be so easy to just bump hands, on accident at first, but then it would happen again, and then a third time. And the next time, Leon would catch his hand, and they’d slowly entwine their fingers, calluses rough against smooth skin. Raihan would gently run his thumb along the back of Leon’s hand, and they’d share a secret smile. He’d give Leon’s hand a squeeze and— 

“Wow!” Leon’s cheery voice pierced through Raihan’s fantasy, “the flowers in bloom are so pretty!” He wandered over toward the small park across from the Vault. “I wonder what kind they are…”

Raihan stopped in his tracks as he snapped back to reality, and then was almost knocked off his feet as Duraludon ran into him. Duraludon made a distressed sound, and Raihan spent a moment reassuring him that he was fine, really, it’s not your fault big guy, before he could hurry over to see what Leon was talking about. Aegislash brought up the rear, floating over behind Raihan and Duraludon. 

Leon was standing in an archway covered in white flowers, tenderly stroking a delicate pale petal. His smile was serene as he stared at it, holding the blossom gently without picking it.

Raihan, already weak from his scandalous hand-holding fantasy, took in the picturesque sight like a cupid’s arrow to his heart. He stared, struck speechless, only able to admire Leon before he found his voice again.

“Yeah. Beautiful.”

Lean looked up at Raihan, beaming at him. “I know, right? I hope you pay the gardeners here real well!” He motioned Raihan closer. “Look, you can tell that a Combee’s been at this one!”

“Yeah?” Raihan asked, moving in closer.

What could be a more perfect moment than this? Relatively alone, surrounded by beauty, with no one but their pokemon near. 

“Hey, Lee?”

Leon looked up at him from the flower, smile still on his face. “Yeah Raihan? What’s— ?”

“Hey Leon, hey Raihan!” came a quiet but cheery voice, cutting Leon off before he could finish his question. Sonia waved at them from the threshold of the Western Gate.

Raihan resisted the urge to leap over the bushes and strangle her with his bare hands.

“Hey, Sonia,” he said instead with an easy smile, though he gritted his teeth. “It’s been a while.”

“Good to see you, Raihan,” she said as she moseyed over to the two of them, her Yamper at her heels, “and you, too, Lee.”

Leon smiled at her, giving her a nod and a wave through the foliage. “Yeah, definitely. What’s brought you to Hammerlocke, Sonia?”

“I’m looking into some historical theories and how they apply to my Gran’s current dynamax research,” Sonia said, twirling some of her hair around a finger. “And speaking of which…” She trailed off and looked over at Raihan sheepishly. “Is there any way you could let me into the Vault?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Raihan said, disappointment settling in. “When were you thinking of going?”

She waved a hand slightly, shaking her head. “Oh, whenever’s convenient for you, I know you’re busy.”

“I haven’t been in that dusty old vault in ages!” Leon said with a grin, “I wouldn’t mind seeing it again myself.”

Raihan perked up. Taking Leon to the Vault wasn’t a bad idea, even if Sonia tagged along. “Yeah? Let’s go now, then!”

“Oh, wonderful!” Sonia said, her eyes lighting up. Yamper yapped and ran excited circles around Leon.

Leon laughed, bending down to pet it. “It’s good to see you, too, Yamper.”

There was a sharp buzzing sound, and Leon’s haggard-looking Rotom zipped around in front of him, the phone screen blinking a little. “Urgent message from Chairman Rose, bzzt! He wants you at the power plant right away, Mr. Leon!”

Leon’s expression shifted, like a light flicking off. “What, now? But he said we weren’t meeting until later…”

“S-so sorry, Mr. Leon, but that is what the message sayszzt!” The Rotom floated up to keep eye level with Leon as he stood back up. “Sh-shall I give you directions to the power plant, Mr. Leon?” 

Its tone was so hopeful.

Leon sighed. He put a smile back on and turned to Raihan and Sonia, though his smile was different now. The difference was subtle, but Raihan had known Leon long enough to see it was tight and fixed in place, like the smiles he gave the cameras. “Sorry, but it looks like I’ve gotta run.”

“Oh, come on! Rose’s had you in meetings all week!” Raihan said, getting heated. “It is possible for you to get overworked. Being Champion doesn’t stop you from being human!”

Leon shrugged. “I know he’s been keeping me busy, but it’s okay, really. It’s important work, y’know?”

Sonia twirled her hair a bit quicker, looking a little unsure. “Just don’t overdo it, okay Lee?”

Leon puffed up his chest, planting his fists on his hips and grinning wider with that flat, empty smile. “Don’t you worry, we can all meet up again later for a real Champion time! But until then… I’d better get going. See you two later!”

He waved and dashed off… in the wrong direction. His Rotom zipped after him.

“W-wait, Mr. Leon! That’s not— please stop— wrong way— redirecting route— pleasezzt!”

Raihan put a hand on his hip, a concerned look darkening his face as the two watched Leon run off.

“Did he just use the Champion line on us?”

It was Sonia’s turn to frown.

“...he did, he really did.” She turned to look at Raihan, her expression worried. “Can’t remember the last time he did that.”

“Unless it was in front of a camera,” he said. “He’s being overworked. I hardly ever see him, and he’s always off with the Chairman. It can’t all be League business; he’s never been gone this much before.”

He grumbled and stuffed his hands into his pockets. 

“C’mon, let’s get you to the vault.”

“Right, thanks,” Sonia said quietly, moving to walk beside him, her expression still one of worry. “...sorry if I derailed your day, Raihan. You two seemed like you were having a nice time, and then…”

“Nah, it’s fine. I mean, obviously the Chairman was going to derail it anyway,” he said, watching Yamper scurry ahead to sniff at a bush. He shook his head. “Not your fault, in any case. Why do you want to dig around in the Vault?”

She perked back up a little, smiling again. “Oh! Well, I’m looking into the history behind dynamaxing, trying to find out more about where it came from, how it started… and if I remember right, there’s some tapestries in the Vault about the Darkest Day. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so I was hoping to take a look and jog my memory.”

“Yeah, sounds good. I doubt anyone’s been in there besides me since the last time you visited them, to be honest. Visitors tend to want to see the gold and jewels, or the old weapons and stuff on display in the museum, not some dusty old wall rugs.”

“Dusty old—hey!” She put her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffing out. “You of all people should appreciate the historical significance of _everything_ in the Vault! Not just the ‘fun’ stuff!”

He grinned. “I never said I didn’t. I actually love this stuff. I’m just saying that maybe I should get you your own key, if you’re going to be the one person doing actual research instead of just ogling shiny things. It’ll be nice for some of these artifacts to see the light of day, to be honest. There’s a lot of history here just collecting dust. I hate feeling like a dragon sitting on a hoard of treasures no one cares about.”

“Oh,” she relaxed again, twirling her hair in embarrassment, “I’d… actually really appreciate that, thank you.”

She was quiet as they went in through the lobby and started up the long sets of stairs toward the upper parts of the Vault. As they passed a well-placed poster advertising the Challenge Finals dates, sporting a gigantimax Charizard on it as they so often did, she let out a sigh.

“It’s just strange, y’know? We’ve just accepted that dynamax is this thing that happens, and everyone’s okay with it. Flashy battles are all well and good, but… I do wonder what on Earth could have caused this to happen in the first place? What could have possibly been the trigger for something so potentially destructive?”

“Natural disaster, space aliens, I don’t know. I always thought it was an unintended side effect of the energy sites we have. Just a natural resource specific to Galar that we’ve harnessed.”

“Hm, I suppose…” Sonia said, chewing on her lower lip.

Raihan led her past the public displays and up the tower, unlocking the door to the tapestry room. The air inside the room was stale, but not unpleasant, with the faint smell of dust and old wood. The tapestries hung across the walls in the circular room, rippling slightly as the air currents from the heavy door disturbed them.

“Hey, Sonia, smile!” 

He snapped a quick selfie, Sonia only just barely managing to smile in time, then dropped down onto one of the stone benches and started fussing with his phone. 

Stupid Chairman. Stupid sponsorship meetings. Stupid Sonia.

A pang of guilt hit Raihan with that last thought, and he immediately regretted even having the thought. Sonia was the last person he should be mad at. She was nothing but a good friend to both himself and Leon, and it wasn’t fair to take his anger out on her.

He fussed over the filters for their selfie, and only snapped out of his thoughts when Sonia broke the silence.

“The legend we were all taught as kids only ever mentioned one Champion… one hero who stopped the Darkest Day,” She stood in front of the tapestries, her head tilted to one side. “But I’m uncovering more and more evidence to suggest that it wasn’t just one hero, but two. And these tapestries only confirm this further. See? Each one depicts two people during the calamity of the Darkest Day.”

Raihan hastily posted the photo to his social media and pocketed his phone. “Well, who says the second person was also a Champion? It could have been his squire, his mentor, his spouse… hell, maybe the tapestry artist just wanted a self-insert. These are a record of our history, but you’ve got to take them with a grain of salt.”

“True,” Sonia said, “but often we can glean certain details that are very likely from how ancient art was created. For example, these two people depicted in these tapestries are always side by side and depicted at nearly the same size. If one were seen as more important than the other, it’s likely they would have been depicted in fewer tapestries or taken up less of the tapestry, or even be seen bowing or showing due respect to the person above their station. But, as it stands…” she gestured with her perfectly manicured fingers, “they are depicted as mostly equal throughout all four tapestries.”

She paused again, blushing a little. “Oh rubbish, I’m sorry to go off on you like that, I’m sure this is all dreadfully boring…”

“Well look at you, Miss Clever Cogs,” Raihan teased. “It’s like you’re the granddaughter of a professor or something.”

Her blush deepened and she frowned at him, though her tone was good-natured. “Oh hush up, you.”

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing,” Raihan said, looking up at the tapestries. “If Galar needed a Champion, we wouldn’t _need_ two, because it’d be Leon. That man can do anything he sets his mind to. Except follow a map.”

Sonia’s blush faded, and she giggled. “You might be right about that, especially about him and directions. Utterly _hopeless,_ he is.”

She got a mischievous glint in her eye, twirling her hair again. “Though speaking of historical bias, _you_ might be speaking with some of it now…”

“I’m pretty sure his deeds speak for themselves,” Raihan spread his hands. “I’m just the messenger.”

Mmhm,” she teased, “and it has nothing to do with you chasing his coat-tails for years now?”

Raihan blanched. “Whaaat? Is it that obvious to everyone? Except _him?”_

Sonia shook her head with an exasperated smile. “Not _that_ obvious, no. But you’ve always been able to get through to Leon in a way that I don’t think the rest of us can. Like…” She tilted her head, her lips pursing to one side as she sorted her thoughts. “...like you’re the only person who’s on his same level… and he recognizes that much, at least.”

“On his same level, right,” Raihan gave her a smile, but he couldn’t hide the melancholy behind it. “I’ve got a zero to ten losing streak that says otherwise. But it’s not just that,” he continued, holding a hand up to stop her from interrupting. “He’s kind and charismatic, brave and strong, but gentle and tender when he needs to be. And somewhere in that thick head of his, he’s the most brilliant strategist to ever lay eyes on a pokemon battle.”

Raihan turned his eyes back to the tapestry, at the two woven figures who stood as equals.

“That’s awful nice of you to say, Sonia… but he’s on a whole other level.”

Sonia winced, folding her arms as Yamper wandered over toward Raihan. “Oi vey… sounds like you’ve got it way worse than I thought…” She moved over to sit down beside him on the bench, following his gaze to the tapestries.

“Leon’s always been on a different wavelength than the rest of us… but I still think of anyone, you’ve gotten closer to reaching the high peak he’s on. He says it himself— you’re his greatest rival, and the person that’s come closest to beating him.”

“He does say that, doesn’t he?” A smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

He tossed Sonia the key to the tapestry room and rose to his feet.

“Here. It’ll be easier for me to get another one than to convince the curators to get a key for you. Make sure to lock up when you’re done.”

Sonia fumbled slightly, but ultimately caught the key, then grinned at Raihan.

“Thanks a lot, Raihan.”

“See you, Smartypants.” He grinned and left. He waved to Aria, working the front desk in the lobby. He exchanged a few pleasantries with her, sharing some excitement regarding the upcoming gym battles, and stepped back out into the Hammerlocke streets.

As he made his way back toward the center of the city, a familiar sight manifested itself in the form of Leon, standing in front of the Hammerlocke cafe, looking quite lost. He scratched his head, seeming to be trying to reason with his Rotom, which appeared even closer to short-circuiting than before.

“No, no, the cafe is on the East side of the city, I’m sure of it,” he told the poor pokemon.

“The cafe you are currently located at is on the West side of the city,” the Rotom said quickly, “we need to be in the center of the city, bzzt. It is not far. Please just follow. I will take us there. _Pleaszze.”_

Sky Dragons Above, he was adorable. Leon’s face was so just genuinely perplexed, large golden eyes earnest and confused, but Raihan had seen those eyes turn sharp with fiery passion on the battlefield. Both extremes sent his heart pounding. How could Sonia possibly think he was on the same level as Leon?

“Leon!” Raihan called, jogging over to him. “What are you doing here? Is your meeting over?”

Leon’s expression brightened as he approached, and Raihan was relieved to see he wore a genuine smile. “Hey Raihan! Nah, I uh, haven’t made it to the meeting yet. Getting there, though!”

The Rotom made an odd sort of noise. Was it crying?

“Did you show Sonia the Vault already? That was quick!”

“Yeah, I mostly just dropped her off and gave her a key. Hey, Lee-”

Raihan wanted to do it. After their earlier interruption, he wanted to ask him out right here and now, but something held his tongue. Maybe it was the tension in Leon’s posture, or the lines of stress around his eyes. The memory of Leon’s dazzling smile vanishing at the mention of Chairman Rose pushed to the front of Raihan’s mind.

“Hey, Lee… If something’s going on, you know you can tell me, right?”

Leon blinked at him, looking confused. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“I can tell something’s going on. More than just you worrying about Hop,” Better spell it out, just in case. “Something that’s upsetting you.”

An unsure expression flickered across Leon’s face. In battle, Leon’s poker face was immaculate— he never let on what he was thinking or how he felt. But outside of battle, he may as well be an open book.

“Oh, er…” He looked away from Raihan, fiddling anxiously with his hat. “...just, y’know. It _has_ been a lot of meetings. Lotta stuff I can’t really talk about. I’m grateful that the Chairman trusts me so much, but…” Leon seemed hesitant to continue, “...but it is starting to be a bit much.”

“What’s he dragging you around for? It can’t be League stuff, he’s never kept you this busy before.”

Leon shook his head, but he didn’t meet Raihan’s eyes. “There’s a lot to do for the League, and there’s a _ton_ more sponsors this year, and most of them want adverts and such, plus all the publicity appointments on top of my usual training regiment, and there’s a charity event going on next week— oh, and I have two meet-and-greets tomorrow with some kids over at the hospital here in the city, and—”

“I get that, Lee. Really, I do. But is that really all that’s—”

“Champion Leon, there you are!” Rose’s baritone voice cut through the street as the Chairman strode toward him, his personal assistant Oleana on his heels. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Raihan didn’t bother to conceal his scowl, though Rose either didn’t notice or didn’t care. 

Leon’s smile snapped back into place, and he turned toward Rose. “Chairman! So sorry I’ve been running late. I got lost again. My poor Rotom’s been doing its best, but…”

Said Rotom whizzed right past Chairman Rose over to Oleana, exchanging some quick, pleading words with her as Rose ignored them both.

“Not to worry! These things happen. I can always make time for Champion Leon!” He started walking away, back toward the power plant. “We do have a lot to discuss, however, so keep up!”

“Right, I’m coming!” Leon called after him. He quickly turned back to Raihan and gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry about me, Raihan, it’s just busy season. It’ll quiet down once the Challenge is over. I’ll text you later, yeah?” He grinned a little as he jogged to catch up to the Chairman.

Oleana peered over the Rotom and gave a Raihan a sharp look, then moved to follow Rose, her heels clicking on the pavement.

Raihan let out a frustrated noise once they were out of sight and ran both his hands through his hair, pulling his bandana off.

Something was bothering Leon, something more than just being too busy. He had no idea what had Leon so upset, but he was sure as hell going to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look. We found the RaiLeon in this RaiLeon fic. Piers isn't even in this chapter! Thanks for sticking with us this far! We promise the good shit is just around the corner... :3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In which Raihan goes even more head over heels."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! We were too excited about this chapter to wait longer than a day to post it. Enjoy!

The next few weeks were frustrating, to say the least. Leon was now in and out of Hammerlocke all the time, but Raihan barely saw him in passing, much less had the chance to meet up. Any time he tried to ask Chairman Rose what could be so damn important that it kept Leon busy at all times of the day, that bitch of a personal assistant Oleana was right there to inform him that meetings with the Chairman were by appointment only. 

At least Raihan would have Gym challengers to battle soon. Around this point the fastest of the bunch typically made it through the Spikemuth Gym and into Hammerlocke, and Raihan welcomed the distraction.

He’d just finished running training exercises with his team, cooling down in the locker room and growing impatient as he waited for the first challengers to show up. Restless and frustrated, Raihan finally did what he always did when he couldn’t figure out what else to do: text Piers.

[Hey. How many trainers have made it through your gym?]

It took a few minutes for Piers to respond, which wasn’t unusual. He texted like an old geezer who hated technology. Finally, Raihan received a single digit reply.

[0]

Raihan stared at the number for a long moment, trying to figure out if Piers was serious.

[Really? You know, you don’t have to go full throttle until the finals.]

Several minutes passed before the next text from Piers.

[no ones come] 

Raihan stared at the response for longer, then checked a different text conversation he’d had with Gordie a few days ago.

[You sure?]

The response was significantly quicker this time.

[of course im sure tosser no ones come they arnt coming]

[Gordie says he’s sent at least a dozen your way]

Finally, Piers seemed to give up on the text conversation, as Raihan’s phone rang a moment later.

“Talk to me,” Raihan said immediately, answering on video chat. His phone screen showed a smudged blur that must have been the camera pushed up against Piers’ ear. “Piers, what’s going on?”

“You tell me, mate,” came Piers’ voice, quiet and subdued, barely making it through the bass line pulsing in the background. “Y’sure Gordie said he sent on twelve challengers?”

“Positive,” Raihan said. “Like, a few days ago.”

“Oh… an’ you haven’ seen any at your place?”

“None,” he confirmed. “That’s why I messaged you.”

“...I mean,” Piers started, and there was the sound of him moving around, “I fig’rd they jus’... didn’ wanna show here, y’know? Don’ wanna bother with th’ joke Leader, an’ all that…”

“C’mon Piers, that’s not true.”

“Just ‘cause no one actually says it doesn’ mean they aren’t thinkin’ it, Raihan.”

“Piers, stop,” Raihan said, his voice firm. “Look at me.”

It took several long seconds, but finally Piers complied, shifting his phone to show his face, though his gaze was averted. He was silhouetted by the neon lights behind his stage, and the speakers still vibrated, though their volume was far below its usual riotous level.

“Piers, I want you to think before you answer, and I want you to be honest. What would Marnie say if she heard you say that?”

His expression grew more troubled, and he tugged on his collar. “...she’s heard me say it. ...she don’t like it much at all.”

“That’s right. Now, I know for a fact that both Hop and Marnie made it past Gordie and Melony. Would Marnie skip your gym?”

Piers rolled his eyes a little. “‘Course not… an’ I don’t… I mean…” He yanked at the ring on his collar more insistently. “I always wanted our lack of dynamaxing t’be somethin’ we were proud of. ...jus’ hard to feel that way when y’don’t get any support doin’ it, y’know?... an’ then… no one was showin’ up, so I just figgr’d…”

“You’re stuck in your own head,” Raihan said. “You know my staff won’t let them into the gym without your badge, right?”

Piers let out a sigh, rubbing his face with one hand. “Yeah, I know… s’easy to get caught up in yer head when you’re stuck doin’ nothin’ but waitin’...”

“...Yeah,” Raihan said after a pause. “I know the feeling.”

“You goin’ crazy too?” Piers asked, his phone shaking just a little as he started tapping his foot in time to the beat still pulsing behind him.

“Yeah,” Raihan sank down onto one of the locker room benches. “Leon’s here all the time, but the guy doesn’t get enough free time to respond to texts, much less do anything else. Rose has just been camping in my power plant and jerking Leon around, and any time I so much as think about talking to the Chairman, Oleana is right behind me, breathing down my neck.”

Piers bliked. “… _your_ power plant? I know it’s kinda your city, but… he owns the power plant… just like he owns those businesses all over Galar… just like he owns the League…” He almost hesitated, but kept going. “And just like he owns Leon.”

Raihan bristled. “How can you say that? Just because Leon is Champion doesn’t mean he’s Rose’s little puppet!”

“That’s exactly what it means, Raihan. Rose is Leon’s _boss_. He literally works for the man!” Piers sighed, calming himself a bit before continuing. “It _is_ the busiest season for him right now, though… he’s gotta go ‘round kissin’ babies or whatever shit he does…”

Raihan shook his head. “It’s more than that. How many seasons have we done this together? I know what his schedule is usually like. And this...this is different. He’s never been this swamped. Or exhausted. He hides it well, but I can tell.”

"I mean, who the hell knows what goes on in that Rose's head, anyways? Can't imagine what he'd be havin' the Champion doing... but... I just wonder if you’re double cheesed-off ‘cause you’ve been tryin’ t’confess ta Leon, and he hasn’t had the time.”

“Even if it is, I still feel justified in being pissed off,” Raihan grumbled, then leaned back with a sigh. “But you didn’t call me to hear my problems. Let me see if anyone’s said something about Spikemuth online.”

Raihan switched to audio only and began typing on his phone, scrolling through his social media feeds.

[What’s the deal, Spikemuth? Not very welcoming of you! #GalarGymChallenge]

[been camping outside spikemuth for three days. getting sick of all this rain! #galargymchallenge]

[Is this a new test in #GalarGymChallenge? Can’t find a way into Spikemuth…] 

“Uh...Piers?” Raihan said. “It looks like you’ve got Challengers camping outside your gates, unable to get in.”

“Huh?” Piers said, starting to get to his feet, “wha’dya mean? Can’t get in?”

“That’s what it sounds like. Don’t know what’s going on, though.”

“Ugh, seems like I got some rubbish t’clean up,” Piers grumbled, “hopefully that means some kids’ll be comin’ yer way soon.” He blinked, his gaze focused beyond his phone, then his expression softened ever so slightly. “Ah, looks like Marnie made it. And that kid from Postwick. Better go give ‘em a show.”

“Talk to you later.”

“See ya, Raihan.” Piers fumbled with the phone a bit before it actually turned off.

Raihan pocketed his phone and rose to his feet to pace back and forth across the locker room, Piers’ words about the Chairman ringing in his ears. From a certain standpoint, Piers was right. Rose _did_ own Leon. He told him where to go, what to do, how to act in front of the cameras and his adoring fans…and yeah, Leon had always been charismatic, but Rose had definitely given him public relations training from the moment he became Champion at ten years old.

Geez. Had Rose been over Leon’s shoulder for that long? Raihan thought back, doing the math in his head. He must have been. Always there, always watching, coaching, ordering him around… 

Raihan stopped his pacing and groaned in frustration. Fuming to himself wasn’t doing any good, and the locker room was starting to feel claustrophobic. He strode outside and let Flygon out. 

The pokemon stretched his wings and trilled, then looked carefully at Raihan. He crooned and leaned down to inspect his trainer more closely, large ruby eyes filled with concern.

“Yeah, buddy, I’m okay,” Raihan said with a pang of guilt. His problems didn’t need to become his pokemon’s problems. He rubbed the smooth scales under Flygon’s chin. “I’m sorry. Just need to clear my head. Wanna go for a flight? Just around the city?”

Flygon let out a happy trill, then turned and let Raihan climb on. 

Raihan loved flying. He loved the cool air rushing past his ears, Flygon’s smooth scales under his hands, and the feeling of powerful wings beating beneath him. Far above Hammerlocke, he could escape his problems, if only for a moment, and focus on flying with the pokemon he’d known ever since he was a kid. 

He sighed and leaned forward, closing his eyes and letting his arms drape around Flygon’s neck as they steadied into a long, straight glide. 

A few minutes into their lazy flight, a deep, low rumble reached Raihan’s ears. He opened his eyes and looked below them, but couldn’t pinpoint where the sound was coming from. It grew louder, then a tremor of motion caught his eye, trees shaking violently without any wind. Raihan’s brow furrowed and he scanned the ground. Was this an earthquake? A ground-type pokemon getting riled? 

A searing red light filled the air, seeming to come from every direction at once. Raihan sat up sharply on Flygon’s back, but the light was gone just as quickly as it arrived, along with the rumbling noise.

Just as Raihan started to wonder if he’d imagined it, the light flared again, centered on Route 7 instead of all around him. This time Raihan recognized it for what it was: the familiar red energy of dynamax, swirling around a Liepard outside the East Gate. The pokemon shuddered and grew to enormous size, shaking all over before it let out a terrible roar.

What in the…was that a trainer’s pokemon? But how was it dynamaxing outside the gym?

“Come on, Flygon, let’s go!”

Flygon chirped and angled toward the Liepard with a burst of speed. 

The gargantuan pokemon’s eyes were wide and frantic, so different from the calm and calculated face of a typical Liepard. It jerked back a few steps, easily toppling several trees and sending wild pokemon running.

Oh hell. Was it wild? Raihan’s blood ran cold. An untrained pokemon, unable to understand what was going on, infused with the incredible strength and power of dynamax energy? There was no telling what it would do. Why, it might even go— 

The Liepard roared and snapped into a frenzy, lashing out viciously at anything that moved.

“Come on, Flygon! We’ve got to keep it away from Hammerlocke!”

Flygon let out a sharp trill and swooped toward the Liepard. Raihan held tight to the dragon, keeping himself low on Flygon’s back as he pulled up just in time to lash at it with his tail.

The Liepard recoiled, reeling back with a screech as the blow landed. It slashed in retaliation at them, but it was far slower at its large size and its claws whizzed past Flygon and Raihan harmlessly. The Liepard snarled, watching the Flygon swoop around it closely, and without warning, its long, sharp tail lashed out toward them, far faster than the claws.

Flygon screeched and managed a tricky wingover, only just avoiding the tail.

“Good dodge, that was close!”

He clung to Flygon as they dove and darted above the Liepard, keeping its attention on them and not the wild pokemon beneath it or the unsuspecting city to the West, planning to keep it distracted until it ran out of dynamax energy and reverted back to it’s usual size.

“Raihan!!” Leon’s familiar voice pierced through the wind as he ran full-tilt onto the scene, “what the—?!” He had Charizard’s pokeball in his hand, gearing up towards the motion of throwing it out.

“Leon!” 

A swell of relief washed over Raihan. Leon was exactly the backup Raihan needed right now.

The Liepard growled, the sound so deep that Raihan felt it reverberating through his chest, and the enormous creature fell still, though its eyes never left the Flygon darting above it. Oh good. Maybe it was wearing out.

“It’s wild!” Raihan shouted down to Leon. “I don’t know how it was able to dynamax, but we have to keep it from—”

Flygon’s screech was the only warning Raihan had before the Liepard’s tail lashed out at them once again. Flygon tried to dive out of the way, but this time the tail struck true, knocking them violently sideways. Raihan’s stomach lurched as he felt a moment of weightlessness. His hips jolted off Flygon’s back, and he lost his grip on the dragon. He reached frantically for Flygon’s neck, but his fingertips only grazed across smooth scales, and then the pokemon was out of reach. 

He was falling. He tried to see Flygon, but he was spinning head over heels and having trouble making up from down. His view rotated rapidly between blue sky, brown earth, and giant purple Liepard.

Were you supposed to try to land feet-first in a bad fall? You shatter both your legs but you live, or something. But he couldn’t straighten out, and everything was spinning and—

Oh, the ground was a lot closer now. Oh no. Oh shit. 

He was going to die. 

Raihan was going to become a red splatter all over the road in front Leon, and he’d never even— 

Flygon collided with him in a tornado of green and crimson scales. They crashed to the ground in a tangle and the world spun even faster as they rolled together with the momentum of Flygon’s heroic dive. Raihan was buffeted between the dirt road and Flygon’s weight before the back of his head struck a rock with an audible crack. Stars exploded behind his eyes and he went limp. The next few seconds were a blank and Raihan didn’t remember coming to a stop. 

Next he knew he was on his back, stars dancing in front of his eyes and a spike of pain driving through his skull. He vaguely registered that he couldn’t move, then more alarmingly noted that he couldn’t breathe.

Leon’s face appeared in his vision, his eyes wide and terrified, and his mouth formed Raihan’s name, though no sound came out. He silently repeated the name twice more, and a trembling hand brushed Raihan’s cheek.

Oh good, Leon was okay. He was silent and drifting in and out of focus, but he was okay. Raihan wanted to reach up and touch Leon’s hand, but his arms refused to move. His lungs burned, screaming for a breath Raihan was incapable of taking. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even blink, only able to stare blankly up at Leon as his body struggled to recover from the crash.

Leon’s posture crumbled and he gripped Raihan’s shirt tightly with both hands. His chest heaved rapidly and he clenched his eyes shut, tears dripping onto Raihan’s still chest. His eyes drifted open again, rising to Raihan’s face, though they caught on a point just past Raihan’s still stare. In an instant, his gaze was wide and wild.

The Champion’s expression flickered like an igniting flame. A bellow ripped itself from his throat, blasting through the silence ringing in Raihan’s ears as he surged to his feet. As he left Rahan’s sight, an imposing wall of purple took his place.

Oh yeah. That was still there.

Raihan should help. He needed to get up and help Leon, but he could only stare at the sky. Distantly, he heard roars over the ringing in his ears, but he couldn’t make sense of it. It sounded like Charizard. Or was that Leon? No, impossible. Leon didn’t get angry. At least, not angry enough to yell. Darkness closed in around the edges of Raihan’s vision, slowly tunneling inward until he could only see a distant blur of sky. 

He wheezed a feeble protest, and it was enough to shake off the stunned paralysis of his chest. He gasped for air, vision clearing as his lungs recovered from having the wind knocked out of them. Gratefully, Raihan took a deep breath and grunted when daggers of pain stabbed through his chest. 

Ouch. Better not do that again.

Flygon’s large, green head nuzzled against his cheek and crooned in Raihan’s ear. Oh good. Flygon was okay, too. Something flashed overhead and breathed fire high above him. Charizard? It was hard to see, and staring at the sky was growing increasingly painful, the light searing his eyes. He closed them, just for a second. Flygon’s scales were cool against his cheek, soothing compared to the throbbing in his head that was blossoming into a full-fledged migraine. 

Yeah, he’d just rest his eyes for a bit. Just a moment. He needed to go help Leon, after all. Just rest for just a few…

He was awoken by the sound of static in his ears.

“Here, he’s over here! SzztSonia! Sonia, hurry, bzzt!” 

Rotom? 

Raihan’s eyes fluttered open. His Rotom sparked back and forth above him, a crackling flicker of electricity around a shifting orange form. Strange. What was his Rotom doing outside its phone? Rotom _hated_ being outside their electronics. 

“Quick, quick!”

“I see him, I’m coming!”

He felt a cool, small hand on his face, and a soft, high-pitched voice above him. “Raihan! Raihan, oh Arceus…” It was Sonia, handling him gently and speaking quietly. A soft whine announced that Yamper was nearby as well. Raihan’s pocket buzzed as Rotom sparked back into his phone.

Raihan tried to move, but he could do little more than loll his head to one side. His limbs were heavy, and his head felt as though someone was driving an iron spike through his left eye socket. He felt wet, too, as if something was soaking through the back of his hoodie.

“We need to get him to a hospital, Lee!”

Faster than Raihan’s addled brain could follow, Leon hefted Raihan into his arms, cradling his head and holding the taller man easily against his chest. 

“Stay with me,” Leon’s voice pleaded softly as the scenery shifted around them, “stay with me, Raihan…”

“W’reyou talkin’ about? ‘m right here,” Raihan slurred. 

He felt Leon’s heart pounding in his chest and his arms trembling around Raihan.

“Shhh,” Leon shushed him quietly, a tremor in his voice, “j-just hang in there, Raihan…”

Shit, his head hurt. And he was right, it _was_ wet. He could feel it, warm against his scalp and back. Damn it all. He’d just been on a flight to clear his head, and now this? He should have just—oh no.

“T-the Liepard?” He shifted in Raihan’s arms, trying to look around. “W-where’s…”

“It’s fine, it’s back to normal,” Leon said, his hand trembling as he firmly kept Raihan’s head in place, “Don’t move, okay?... S-stay still…”

Raihan stilled with Leon’s reassurances, and moving hurt anyway. He relaxed against Leon’s broad chest. He smelled good, like cedar and charred firewood. Had he always smelled good? He took a slow, deep breath and grimaced as his chest spiked again.

“That’s it, good,” Leon said, his heart beating faster as his words started trailing off, “stay with me, Rai…”

Leon’s words and the sound of his heartbeat faded as darkness took Raihan once again.

* * *

A grade three concussion, the doctors said. Along with broken ribs, extensive bruising, a sizeable laceration on the back of his head, and a sprained left knee. Pain medication and plenty of rest, they told him. Drink lots of water, avoid strenuous activity. He’d needed stitches for the gash on his head and they gave him a knee brace to wear. He sat through test after test, making sure his concussion wasn’t worse than it already was and there wasn’t any other lasting damage. Even after all the tests were done, they made him wait under observation until his speech stopped slurring and the doctors deemed him sufficiently aware and responsive.

It could have been so much worse. It didn’t take long before Raihan grew tired of doctors telling him how lucky he was.

Night had long fallen by the time he changed out of the damn hospital gown and into his regular clothes, graciously cleaned and dried by hospital staff. They’d even managed to get all the blood out of his hoodie. Raihan figured he shouldn’t be surprised. If anyone knew how to clean blood out of something, it would be the hospital staff that cleaned it up all day. There’d been a sizable stain, too. He didn’t want to know what the pool of blood he left behind looked like.

Somehow, though, they’d missed his bandana, so he rolled it up and kept it stuffed in his hoodie pocket until he could clean it at home. He stepped off the elevator, fussing with the hospital ID tag still around his wrist, wanting nothing more than to go home and go to bed. 

The lobby was quiet. Thankfully, no one else had been injured in the random dynamax incident. It was easy to spot Leon and Sonia sitting in one corner. Sonia was resting a hand on Leon’s arm, speaking quietly to him, and Leon himself sat with his arms resting on his knees, staring down at his hands. Sonia spotted Raihan quickly and tapped Leon’s shoulder.

“Lee, Leon look, he’s here,” she said brightly, giving Raihan a small smile.

Leon’s head snapped up, spotting Raihan and he stood up so fast he stumbled, half dashing over to him. “Raihan!!” His cape was draped over his chair. “Raihan a-are they letting you out? How are you feeling?!”

His normally bright golden eyes were reddened and just a little puffy, like he’d been crying, and his hands clenched into fists as he waited for Raihan’s response.

“Yeah, I’m good to go,” Raihan said, and he was thrown off by how upset Leon looked. It had been hours. Did they wait for him the entire time? “Docs say it’s nothing major. Could have been a lot worse.”

A sigh escaped Leon, and he visibly relaxed. “That’s a relief… y-you two just fell out of the sky, hit your head, there was all this blood…” A haunted expression flitted across his face before he shook his head firmly. “B-but they’re sure you’re fine?”

Raihan winced. Shit, that’s right. Leon had a thing about blood. He stuffed one hand into his pocket, making sure the bandana was out of sight.

“Yeah. I’ve got to wear this dumb thing for a while,” Raihan gestured to the knee brace. “And I’m supposed to take it easy for a few weeks. We’ll see how much that actually happens.”

Leon frowned at him, though his voice was hardly stern. “You really ought to, take it easy, I mean… you—you need to be at your best for when the challengers come… some of them are getting close, y’know...”

“Yeah. Piers has a pile he started dealing with today,” Raihan said, grateful to get back onto the familiar subject of battling. The redness around Leon’s eyes tore at his heart. It meant that he’d made Leon cry, and that didn’t sit well with him. “I figure that gives me at least two days? I might be able to stall it out to three.”

“That sounds about right,” Leon confirmed, also seeming to relax further as they discussed familiar topics, “Piers usually gives people a bit more of a run for their money than they expect, though… so it might be a bit longer. We could also delay things a bit, y’know…” He worried his lower lip with his teeth just slightly.

“I wouldn’t want to push things back too far. That’ll get the challengers mad and mess up the Finals.” 

Raihan headed for the exit, wanting out of this hospital more than he could express. He tried to walk slowly and casually, working to hide the limp his tweaked knee gave him.

Leon moved to follow him, easily falling in step beside him. “No one’d be mad… just… just take it easy, okay, Raihan?”

Sonia gathered up her bag and Leon’s cape, trailing along behind the two of them out into the darkened Hammerlocke streets.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Raihan sighed as they got outside, breathing in the fresh air. “So...what happened?”

Leon frowned again, folding his arms. “We still aren’t sure. Everyone who was nearby when it happened just described the earth shaking, then a flash of red light… and then the Liepard was dynamaxing. I couldn’t find out much else…”

“Weird. And nothing else? It was just the one?”

He nodded. “Luckily, just the one Liepard. I can’t imagine what would have happened if it had been more wild pokemon, dynamaxing all at once…”

Raihan’s steps slowed at that thought. “...Yeah.”

Leon let out another sigh, mussing his own hair a bit. “Well, it didn’t make it to the city. Sonia went and asked around, and no one could really pinpoint where the red light came from…”

Sonia perked up, finally entering the conversation. “The most I could gather was that the light was strongest around Hammerlocke and Spikemuth, and looked similar to the dynamax energy that gathers around the power spots from further away…”

Raihan nodded slowly. 

“So the plan is to just...hope it doesn’t happen again?” He asked, glancing between the two of them.

Sonia looked a bit sheepish. “At this point… basically. Until we can figure out what triggered it…”

“I’ll make sure to be ready, in case it _does_ happen,” Leon said firmly, one hand resting on Charizard’s pokeball instinctively.

“You can’t be everywhere at once, Lee,” Raihan said. “You’re Champion, not superhuman.”

A chuckle escaped Leon, and he shook his head. “Well, someone needs to be able to step up and defend Galar, if need be. And that’s the Champion’s job, right? So you _bet_ I’m gonna do whatever it takes.”

“Well, I’d argue with you, except you sure saved my ass today. ...thanks. By the way.”

“Don’t mention it,” Leon said, managing to smile and reaching out to rest a hand on Raihan’s arm, “I’m… I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“Yeah,” Raihan said softly, and he felt Leon’s gentle touch like fire. “Me too.”

He looked fondly down at Leon. Hell. He might as well. True, when he imagined baring his heart to Leon, he hadn’t pictured Sonia standing awkwardly in the background, but when did fantasies ever match reality?

“Leon. I want you to know—”

“Champion Leon!!” Rose’s voice cut through the night. He strode up to them, Oleana as always at his heels, “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours!”

A smile did not come to Leon’s face this time as he turned to face Chairman Rose.

“Sorry, Chairman… I got rather caught up in the hullabaloo with the rogue dynamaxing pokemon.”

“Ah yes, of course, of course,” Rose said, nodding, “completely understandable. I’ve been very much wanting to speak with you about it.”

“Of course you do,” Raihan sighed.

“I was hoping to get Leon’s insight, since he was present as it happened. And dealt with it quite handily, I might add!” Rose beamed proudly. Leon still didn’t smile.

“We got very lucky,” Leon said, “if it had made it to Hammerlocke, I can’t imagine the destruction it could have caused.”

“I have no doubt that you would be able to help quell any situation, Champion Leon!” Rose said with gusto. “Now, I’d very much like to hear your account so that we can try and figure out what we can and continue to do our best for Galar!”

Leon finally seemed to relax a bit, his shoulders smoothing out into their usual posture, and he nodded. “Of course, Chairman Rose.” He looked over at Raihan, giving him a small nod. “I’ll talk to you later, Raihan… take it easy, okay?”

“Yeah,” Raihan said. “I’ll see you.”

He waited to let his shoulders slump once Leon had turned away, watching him leave with Rose and Oleana. He kicked at the ground, grunted as the motion strained his injured knee, and slouched toward his house.

Sonia glanced between Leon’s retreating back and Raihan slouching off in the other direction and ultimately jogged to catch up with Raihan. She still held Leon’s Champion cape in her arms, and Yamper happily dashed ahead of them, knowing the streets well by now. Some time passed in silence before Sonia spoke up.

“U-um, after an injury like that, I’d feel better if I walked you home… hope you don’t mind,” she said quietly.

He glanced over at her and his sour look softened. 

“No. I appreciate it, Sonia. Thanks.”

She smiled warmly at him. “It’s no trouble, really. I… I’m also very glad you’re alright.”

“...Sounds like I really scared everyone,” he said, not looking at her. “I don’t remember much after the fall. Was it really that bad?”

“Well,” Sonia mused, adjusting the heavy cape in her arms, “it _looked_ pretty bad, if nothing else. But y’know, head wounds always bleed quite a bit, and… you know how Leon gets around blood.”

Raihan grimaced. “Yeah. I think he really flipped over it this time. Guess enough blood makes him go Primapeshit instead of passing out.” He clutched at the bandana in his pocket.

Sonia looked up as they reached Raihan’s house, and she gave him a pouty frown. “Now, you promise that you’ll take it easy?”

He entertained the thought of teasing her, but ultimately decided he was just too tired.

“Yeah. I’ll take it easy. Thanks, Sonia.”

“You’re welcome. ...oh!” She startled a bit, and held up Leon’s Champion cape. “I’ve gotta leave town, my Gran wanted me to look into a few other things about dynamaxing, especially after the incident… Do you think you could get this back to Leon for me? I’m sure he’ll be missing it soon enough…”

“What? Oh, yeah. Sure.” He took the cape from her. “See you later.”

“See you,” she waved, turning to walk away with Yamper, “I’ll be back for the finals!”

Raihan slipped inside the familiar comfort of his home and made a beeline for his bed. He carelessly stripped out of his clothes on the way, leaving a trail of clothing behind him, until he was down to his boxers. He stopped as he reached his bedroom, looking out the window to the gym in the distance. How did a wild pokemon dynamax outside a gym? Would it happen again? Could it happen inside the city limits?

He still held Leon’s cape in his arms and hugged it to his chest while lost in thought. The scent of cedar and firewood wafted up to him, bringing with it the feeling of strong arms wrapped around him, a heart beating against his cheek, and a soft, worried voice murmuring reassurances above him.

 _Hell._

Raihan snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at the cape. It still smelled like Leon. He looked around, trying to decide where to put it when his knee began to complain bitterly and he was forced to sink down into his bed. 

“Bosszt?”

His Rotom phone floated into the room from where he’d left it in his pocket.

“Hey, buddy,” Raihan said with a tired smile. “I heard you calling Sonia over.”

The Rotom phone set itself down on its charging dock on Raihan’s nightstand. 

“Flygon went back into hiszzz pokeball and Leon waszz fighting the Liepard and the grass was so tall that Sonia couldn’t see you and I was szzscared that you might— that she might not—”

His Rotom’s voice crackled over with static.

“Hey, hey,” Raihan said. “I’m okay. See? I’m doing okay. Thank you. It’s good to know I have the best Rotom in the entire world watching my back. You have permission to download any app you want for yourself, no budget limit.”

The phone screen flickered and Rotom sparked out of the phone. It flitted forward to nuzzle Raihan’s cheek, a little crackle of static against his skin, then it immediately vanished back into the phone and turned the screen off.

Raihan had the distinct impression that it was flustered. He smiled and shook his head, and fabric rustled against his chest.

He still held the cape in his arms.

Raihan bit his lip, debating with himself for a moment. Well…where’s the harm, right? It’s not like anyone would ever know…He could even get it cleaned for politeness’ sake.

Raihan unfurled the cape and wrapped it around himself. He buried his face in the soft silk and took a deep breath, not giving a damn that his broken ribs complained. After the day he’d had, the universe could let him have this. 

Enwrapped in soft silks, wool, and the comforting smell of Leon, Raihan drifted into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Raihan has a rough day of recovery.

Raihan awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. He opened his eyes blearily and squinted at his bedside clock. 10:34. Shit! He’d slept in. His trainers were expecting him down at the gym and he needed to work on— 

Raihan made the mistake of trying to sit up and his muscles screamed in protest. Everything ached, but not the pleasant post-workout ache Raihan was used to, instead feeling more along the lines of getting hit by a train.

Or plummeting 200 feet to his untimely death.

Someone knocked on his door again. Hell, he could barely move. Everything was stiff and sore. Why did he feel so shitty now? It wasn’t nearly this bad last night. The concept of standing up and walking down the stairs to his front door was laughable. Raihan groaned and curled into a ball, clutching the covers tighter around him. Whoever it was could go away. Every inch of him hurt, from the throbbing in his head to the spike his broken ribs made with every breath, all bundled up in stiff joints and bruises. All he wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep until things stopped hurting.

_KnockKnockKnock_

Whoever it was could come back when life was less terrible. Right now, Raihan had enough trouble just wrapping his head around the concept of leaving his bed to relieve his bladder.

He heard the front door open.

What the— Who in the _fuck_ did this person think they were?

Someone slipped inside and quietly shut the door behind them. The steps were heavy, but slow, as if they were trying hard to be quiet. They made their way steadily toward the kitchen. He heard the squeak of wood against linoleum as they bumped into a kitchen chair and a familiar voice made a soft noise of surprise.

“…Leon?” Raihan called, his voice rough with sleep. “What’re you doing here?” 

It was easy to imagine Leon’s wincing expression in the slight pause that followed.

“Sorry to wake you up, Raihan,” came his reply, “I just came to check up on you.”

His steps got louder and more intent now that he wasn’t attempting stealth, and the following noises from the kitchen suggested he was pulling out some cooking supplies.

“Are you… making me breakfast?”

“Yeah! I mean, I’m gonna try. Haven’t made this in a long time, but my mom always made it for me and Hop when we weren’t feeling well.” There was a pause. “How _are_ you feeling?... still sore, I’d imagine…?”

“Yeah, that’s an understatement. I feel like shit,” Raihan replied, but his mind was still caught on the fact that _Leon_ was making _him_ his mother’s comfort food breakfast.

Leon’s reply was softer, worry in his tone. “I’m sorry… they um, they gave you some medications, right?... have you been able to take any today?”

Raihan thought back to last night, trying to remember where he put them.

“I’m pretty sure they’re still in the pocket of my shorts.”

There was a clatter as Leon set some things down. “I’ll find them, hold on.” He started moving about, heading back to the entryway. Soon Raihan could see him through his open bedroom door, making his way steadily up the stairs toward Raihan’s bedroom, gathering up Raihan’s discarded clothes as he went. He wore casual clothes, no Champion garb today, though he still wore his same hat.

Raihan carefully sat up with a groan, his silk sheets falling into his lap.

Wait. Silk? He didn’t own silk sheets. What was he—

Leon’s cape.

Raihan’s heart leapt into his throat as Leon reached the top of the stairs. What would Leon think if he found Raihan wrapped up in his cape, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers? He frantically stuffed the cape under a blanket, ignoring how his arms and back screamed at the motion, and turned around just in time for Leon to enter his room.

Leon was fishing around in the pockets of Raihan’s shorts, and smiled in triumph as he pulled out a pill bottle.

“Ahah! Found them. Now, let’s see…” he frowned down at the label. “It says ‘take with food’, so it looks like I’d better get snappy with breakfast.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good…” Raihan trailed off as he tried to stand up and found that he simply couldn’t. His arms and legs shook, but he could do little more than sit on the edge of his bed and think very hard about wanting to stand while his muscles refused to cooperate.

Leon put down the pile of Raihan’s clothes he’d gathered into the obvious laundry pile, turning back toward Raihan as he trailed off. Concern came abruptly to his expression, and he moved over to Raihan’s bedside.

“...you okay? What’s wrong?” Leon’s eyes roamed all across Raihan’s form, catching here and there for a moment, more worry leaking onto his face.

“I… uh… I can’t stand up,” Raihan admitted.

“L-let me help you,” Leon said, and moved in close. He gingerly wrapped an arm around Raihan’s waist, slipping underneath one of his arms. “Lean on me, yeah?”

Raihan graciously accepted his help, though he was hyper aware of every touch on his bare skin. His legs shook like a newborn Mudbray, but he was able to get to his feet with Leon’s support.

“That’s it, here we are.” Leon’s voice was soft and encouraging. “You wanna try and get dressed?... Though today does seem like the perfect ‘lounge around in your knickerbockers’ kinda day…” He gave Raihan a slight smile, easily supporting his weight despite their height difference.

“I, uh,” Raihan felt his face flush. “…I gotta piss.”

Leon blinked, then nodded, keeping his smile. “Right, better take care of that, then. C’mon…” 

He helped Raihan move across the room toward the bathroom, moving slowly and holding him as gently as he could. Raihan’s leg buckled when he put any weight on his bad knee, and he was forced to lean even more on Leon to keep weight off of it. He let go of Leon as they reached the bathroom, putting his weight on the sink instead.

“I’ve got it from here,” he said, “I don’t need help with… well. But maybe wait outside the door?”

How humiliating.

Leon nodded immediately. “I’ll be right here.” He slipped outside the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Raihan leaned over the sink for a moment before looking at himself in the mirror. His hair hung limp around his face, his eyes were bloodshot, and his dark skin was marred by purple, blotchy bruises, particularly over his chest, arms, and his sprained knee. 

Shit, he looked terrible. No wonder Leon was concerned.

He relieved himself and washed up, forced to hop awkwardly and carefully around the bathroom, leaning against the sink and the walls. A shower was out of the question, but washing his face and brushing his teeth helped him feel a little closer to human. He painfully slipped into a bathrobe and opened the door, shifting his weight to the doorframe.

As the door opened, Leon looked up sharply, wearing a complex expression. Upon seeing Raihan, however, his expression shifted instantly back to worry. He moved right back to Raihan’s side, supporting him without prompting this time.

“Back to bed?” he questioned, still handling Raihan with the utmost care.

Raihan nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good plan.”

“Right,” Leon replied, and soon helped Raihan ease down onto his bed. He frowned slightly as he got Raihan situated. “Where’s your knee brace?... I remember you left with one last night…”

“Uh…” Good question. He didn’t remember taking it off, but it definitely wasn’t on at the moment. “I dunno. Must have come off during the night.” 

“Hmm… must not have been put on very well initially, then. It’s probably in your sheets somewhere…” he started to move Raihan’s bedding aside. 

Raihan’s heart leapt into his throat. 

“No! No, it’s fine, I’m sure I can just…”

He turned around, kneeling on his bed, and reached under his covers, shoving past Leon’s cape to fish around for brace. 

“W-woah! Take it easy, Raihan…!” Leon moved closer to him, brow knotting with worry.

“It’s fine!” After only a moment, Raihan’s fingers found nylon and velcro amid the bedding, and he pulled the brace out. 

“There! See, nothing to worry about! I can just—” He tried to turn back and face Leon, and put all his weight on his bad knee. He gasped and dropped to all fours on the bed, clutching the brace in one hand. 

Leon chewed on his lower lip and slipped in close to Raihan, taking hold of his shoulders and helping him get situated into a sitting position, leaning him back against the headboard. His voice was quiet and concerned.

“Look, I know it’s hard… but you really need to take it easy…” 

Raihan took a few deep, steadying breaths, working through the agony radiating from his knee and slowly nodded. 

“Y-yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

“It is,” Leon insisted, trying to help Raihan get situated comfortably. “Let me put the brace back on for you, that’ll probably help a little… and then I’ll get right on the cooking so you can take your pills, yeah?”

Raihan wanted to protest, but bending over to reach his knee sounded like a horrible idea, so he only nodded meekly and handed the brace to Leon.

Leon took the brace, and sat near Raihan’s knee on the bed. “I’ll try to be gentle, but let me know if it hurts too much, okay?” He easily ripped open the velcro on the brace that was skewed at odd angles from its jostle the previous night.

Raihan took another few deep breaths and looked down at Leon. His bare leg was exposed through the edges of his bathrobe, and he bit back a gasp as Leon gently lifted Raihan’s leg. His hands were warm and calloused, rough against Raihan’s skin, and handled him as if he were made of glass as he slipped the brace straps underneath, then let his leg rest on the bed again. Leon placed a palm half on the brace and half on Raihan’s thigh to steady it as he firmly tightened the straps.

How many times had Raihan imagined Leon’s hands on him? And now he was here, Leon’s strong hands on his bare thighs, and he was in too much pain to even appreciate it. Not that he’d want to, on second thought. Explaining an erection was the last thing he wanted to do right now, and he begrudgingly spared some gratitude for the pain keeping his hormones in check.

Leon secured all the straps, examining the brace for a moment before he looked up at Raihan, hand still lingering on his thigh. “Too tight?”

Raihan let out a long breath and forced his thoughts back into gear. 

“No, it’s great. Thanks, Lee.”

He smiled, patting Raihan’s thigh lightly before pulling away. “Great, just try and keep it on this time, alright?”

Raihan didn’t actually think he was supposed to sleep with the brace on, but was rendered entirely mute by the pat on his thigh.

“You just relax a bit and I’ll go make some food…” Leon’s bottom lip jutted out slightly, disappointment clear in his voice. “Probably best if I make something quick instead of what I had in mind, so you can take those pills. Maybe just some toast and eggs?”

Raihan took a second to respond, needing to get himself back under control. “I’ll be happy with anything I don’t have to make myself. Toast and eggs sound great.”

“I’m on it,” Leon said with a nod, getting to his feet, “take a load off, and I’ll be right back.” He hurried out the door and back to the kitchen.

Raihan sank back against the headboard and checked once again that the cape was safely out of sight. He could probably fold it up and pretend he’d kept it under his bed, but Raihan felt better getting it cleaned before returning it to Leon.

_Leon._

The man had no idea what he did to Raihan with a single word, a simple touch, an innocent smile. And now Raihan had him all alone, the man making him breakfast, with no one to interrupt. Maybe he’d finally found his perfect moment. 

Unless Leon only agreed to return his affections because he felt sorry for him and was still riding off worry.

The ugly thought pierced Raihan’s heart and he ran his hands over his face with a frustrated growl. That was a very real possibility, and Raihan didn’t want the foundation of their relationship to be built on pity and guilt. No confession today.

_Dammit._

He listened to the sounds of Leon bustling about in his kitchen below and didn’t realize he’d drifted into a doze until the sound of Leon’s heavy footsteps on his stairs roused him.

Leon slipped back into the bedroom carrying two plates, each sporting three pieces of toast and two eggs. “It’s not much, but it’ll at least be enough to take meds with.”

“It's fine,” Raihan reassured him. “Thanks, Lee.”

He sat back up with some effort and leaned against the backboard, taking the plate from Leon. Only after taking the first bite did Raihan realize how hungry he actually was, and it took a conscious effort of will to not shovel his food down.

Leon ate more slowly, uncharacteristically quiet as they sat in Raihan’s room eating a simple breakfast together. As Raihan polished off his plate, he scooted closer to him on the bed. “You still hungry? Want a bit more?” He held out his plate toward Raihan.

“Only if you’re done.”

Raihan took the plate, but he searched Leon’s face, not used to this quiet, pensive Leon.

“Hey. …What’s going on?”

“S-sorry,” Leon muttered, rubbing his face, “I guess I’m still kinda… shaken up over what happened. I can’t imagine what _you_ must be feeling like…” He looked a bit sheepish, not meeting Raihan’s eyes. “You’ll have to forgive me for barging in on you today… I just wanted to be sure you were okay. Especially after I had to leave so abruptly last night.”

“Yeah, well, I appreciate it. I didn’t think I’d feel this rough. I sure as hell wasn’t this painful last night, but I guess I was still riding off the meds the doctors gave me and then stiffened up overnight. Oh, speaking of…” He popped two pills into his mouth and swallowed them dry, following them down with a mouthful of eggs. 

“As for being shaken up? I guess I’m just trying not to think about it,” He looked down at his plate, pushing the eggs around with a fork. He focused on the feeling of the smooth plate in his hand, the plush bathrobe against his skin, the mattress beneath him. He focused on anything to avoid thinking about the gut-clenching moment of weightlessness, of spinning out of control, of becoming a pulpy splatter of bone and meat on the road. 

He pushed the eggs aside, appetite lost.

“I’m okay now. That’s what matters.”

Leon nodded, clenching his hands into fists on his lap. “Yeah, yeah you’re right. I’m really glad you’re okay.” His brow furrowed. “I still think maybe you should’ve stayed at the hospital longer, but… I’m not exactly a doctor.”

“Aw, this isn’t so bad,” Raihan forced a grin, shoving the dark thoughts aside and elbowing Leon. “They wouldn’t have let you make me breakfast at the hospital. And I’ll definitely sleep better in my own bed.”

Managing a smile back to him, Leon relaxed a fraction. “I suppose that’s true… I always sleep better in my own bed, too. You just have to promise to take it easy. A fall like that…” He shook his head a little, trying to keep his smile. “Just don’t overdo it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll—” Raihan broke off as his Rotom phone popped off the charging dock and floated over to him. 

“Hey, Bosszzt! Sebastian says he’s bringing dinner over tonight and wants to know if you need anything, bzzt! Do you want to read the full rant he szzsent you about being reckless, or should I just auto reply?”

Raihan smiled. Bless his Gym Trainers. He should have known they would step up to help.

“Let him know I’m doing okay, and I’d love dinner. Send a copy to Camilla and Aria, too.”

“On it, bzzt!” 

Leon reflected Raihan’s smile as he watched Rotom. “Thanks a lot, Rotom… you’ve always got Raihan’s back, huh?”

Rotom crackled and flew over to Leon.

“I szzure do!”

“It’s pretty much my public relations manager at this point,” Raihan said. “It’s sure as hell more effective than any PR manager I’ve had before.”

Leon grinned, reaching out and gently taking the phone, stroking along its edge and meeting the Rotom’s eyes that framed the screen.

“Thanks for your help yesterday,” Leon said earnestly, “I’m very grateful to you, Rotom.”

The screen flickered, crackling in an electronic blush.

“Just, bzzt, part of the job!”

“Yeah, well…” Leon said, grinning as he teasingly swiped at Rotom’s blush, “you definitely go above and beyond, bud. So thanks.”

The Rotom phone pulled out of Leon’s hands.

“Y-you’re welcome!” It darted back to its charging station and firmly flicked its screen off.

Raihan grinned. “It’s not used to getting so much attention.”

Leon laughed a little, turning to Raihan. “Well, then maybe it could use a bit more attention every so often.”

“I assume you pamper your Rotom, then?” Raihan teased. “I bet it’s spoiled silly.”

“O-oh,” Leon stammered, averting his gaze, “well, er… I tried to. But mine isn’t, um... working with me anymore.”

Raihan stared at him.

“…What?”

“I uh, I let it go this morning,” Leon admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “It was a good pokemon, just… y’know…”

“Just what?” Raihan asked. “What could have possibly happened for you to fire a Rotom?”

Leon winced, looking properly ashamed of himself. “I-it wasn’t its fault, really… I know I’m not the easiest guy to work with, I’ve been through a few Rotoms in my time… but I uh…” His voice got quieter. “...I found out just how much it had been screening my calls, my texts… I know that I need PR help, but—but not for my _personal_ life. And just because I’m busier with work shouldn’t mean I get cut off from everyone I care about.”

He sighed and some tension left his shoulders. “So I politely fired it this morning. ...it seemed a bit relieved, to be honest with you.”

“It was _what?_ ” Raihan gaped. “So it was, what? Blocking texts? Hiding notifications? So when I thought you were just too busy to text me back…” 

“I _have_ been busier than usual lately but…” Leon shook his head. “Not _that_ busy.”

“Geez, Lee. Where did you pick up such a control freak Rotom?”

He shrugged. “All my Rotoms have always been hand-picked by Oleana and the Chairman. They said they could find the best ones…” Leon looked a bit glum as he continued. “And the ones most likely to get me to where I needed to go.”

Raihan mulled over this information, and a cold knot formed in his gut as he considered the unpleasant implications.

“Do you think they knew?”

Leon was silent for a moment before he nodded.

“...yeah. Oleana definitely knew. I confronted her about it this morning, and she said it was to ‘keep me focused on the Chairman’s work’. I knew she was a control freak, but… this was too much. I uh…” He looked sheepish again. “I _may_ be skipping out on some meetings right now, but… I wasn’t about to go today.”

Raihan chewed his bottom lip.

“Leon…what’s been going on? This is more than just Gym Challenge stuff, I know it. I know you’ve been stressed and tired, and you’ve never been this busy before. I worry about you, too, you know.” 

“I-it’s just—” Leon tried to protest before he shook his head. “...no, I… I don’t care, I trust you just as much as I trust the Chairman… so I’m just gonna—” He took a deep breath.

“Rose has been going over things, and worked out the possibility of an energy crisis. Because we get so much energy from the same energy that powers dynamaxing, he’s concerned that one day we’ll run out. He asked me not to tell anyone about it, since he doesn’t want anyone to panic, and he said that if it were to happen, it would still be a ways off… though the whole thing’s still got him pretty worked up. And he’s been wanting me there for all these meetings with the energy companies and stuff, but…”

His brow furrowed. “I’m not an engineer, Raihan, I have no idea what to say when they’re talking numbers and watts or whatnot. I try and keep up, but… it doesn’t really happen. And Rose says that he trusts me more than anyone when it comes to dynamaxing, which is flattering, it really is… but I can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t ask for Sonia or her Gran.”

“An energy crisis?” Raihan sputtered for a moment at the absurdity of it all. “You’re right, that doesn’t make _any_ sense for him to drag you into it. What does he expect you to do? You’re Champion of Galar! Specifically the Champion of the Galar Gym Challenge, which is a pokemon battle competition! We’re athletes, not politicians or scientists! What does he want you to do, challenge the energy crisis to a battle?”

Leon shook his head. “I—I don’t know, he says that I’m his best resource for dynamax, but… even that is pretty crazy. Sure, I use it a lot in battles, but…” He sighed, mussing his own hair. “A-anyway, that’s what he’s had me doing. I… I want the best for Galar, so I’ll keep doing my best… I just worry that I’m not going to be able to help how the Chairman wants me to.”

“Leon, if Rose is asking you to do things you can’t do, then that’s his fault, not yours. Have you told him that you don’t know what he expects you to do?”

“W-well, I mean, sort of,” Leon stammered, “I frequently tell him that I can’t help with certain things, but he just smiles and tells me not to worry about it, and to just ‘do my best for the sake of Galar’.” 

“Well, I think you’re doing the right thing by blowing off his meetings,” Raihan said. “Maybe then he’ll figure out he needs to focus his energy toward someone who can actually help. Your job is to run the Championship tournament. Focus on that, no matter what the Chairman says.”

A small chuckle escaped Leon. “Of course you’d think ditching work was a good idea… personally, I’d rather not do it for too long… but a break was _definitely_ in order today.”

He smiled a bit more brightly at Raihan. “Are those painkillers starting to kick in?”

Raihan blinked, then looked down at himself.

“You know, I think they are. I don’t feel too bad. Hell, might even want to swing by the gym, run my team through a few exercises. No good slacking off right before gym matches.”

Leon let out a slightly shaky laugh. “That had better be a joke, Raihan,” he said firmly. “But I’ll admit, I do miss when we’re able to train together in the off-season.”

“Oh, off-season training’s the best,” Raihan yawned and continued, “low pressure, just the two of us playing new techniques off each other. And our teams get a chance to work together instead of just battle each other.”

The Champion grinned brightly at him. “Yeah! I love when our pokemon work together. They get along really well, which is great.”

“Between you and me, I think Goodra has a soft spot for your Dragapult. I’m almost positive she’s sweet on him,” He fought back another yawn. “Oof. The drugs are working, but I think they gave me the heavy stuff.”

Leon slipped off of Raihan’s bed, getting to his feet. “That’s good… but that means I’d better leave you to rest.”

“Yeah, that might be a plan,” Raihan said, sinking down into his bed. “Thanks, Leon. …For everything.”

“You’re welcome,” came Leon’s warm reply, and he slipped the blankets up around Raihan. “Text me later if you need anything, okay?”

“Will do.”

It was only after he heard Leon leave, the front door closing behind him, that Raihan closed his fingers around the silk cape under the covers and pulled it to his chest. After taking in another breath of Leon’s comforting scent, he let out a long sigh and let sleep claim him.

* * *

Raihan was once again awoken by someone banging on his door.

_KnockKnockKnockKnock_

Now what? 

Raihan groggily rubbed his eyes as the knocking continued. Who in the hell was it now? He checked his clock, and realized with a jolt that he’d slept until late in the afternoon. That must be Sebastian, bringing him dinner. He sat up gingerly and considered getting out of bed. Unlike earlier, standing on his own felt like something within the realm of possibility, but maneuvering up and down his stairs sounded like a terrible plan.

“Come in!” He shouted, with no idea if Sebastian would hear him. Even if not, Sebastian had a key. He’d let himself in eventually, assuming Leon even locked the door behind him this morning.

There was the sound of the door swinging open downstairs, and a slight “clink” came with the sound of footfalls this time.

“Oi, Flygon boy,” came Piers’ voice, steadily coming closer toward Raihan’s room, “heard you went arse over tit yesterday.”

Piers?” Raihan asked, bewildered. “What’re you doing here?”

“Had to come make sure y’were still in one piece,” Piers droned as he headed up the stairs, “since only your Rotom bothered t’tell me that y’were hurt at all.”

Raihan glanced at his Rotom phone, still on his night stand. The Rotom gave him an unapologetic look. 

Raihan sighed, but smiled. “I would have done it myself, but I’ve been kinda out of it.”

“I get it,” Piers said as he slipped into Raihan’s room, carrying a takeout bag and a bottle of Gall-Ade in Raihan’s favorite flavor, “I’m mostly narked that no one else decided t’let me know.”

Most people might not see much difference in how Piers usually looked to how he looked now, though the subtle knots in his brow and slightly darker eyes easily showed Raihan his worry. He looked Raihan over, almost appraisingly.

“Look pretty good for a guy who ‘parently fell off a skyscraper.”

“Yeah, I’m all purple under the robe and I conked my head pretty good, but it could have been a lot worse,” he said lightly, trying to pretend that ‘a lot worse’ didn’t mean ‘dead.’ “And not that I’m not grateful, but you should have texted before bringing dinner. Sebastian said he’d bring me some.”

“Don’ worry ‘bout that,” Piers said, easily sitting next to Raihan on his bed, holding the food out to him, “I lifted this off him on m’way over here.”

“Please tell me you didn’t traumatize him,” he pleaded, taking the food and pulling the container out of the bag.

“No promises,” Piers grumbled, “he was one of the folks that didn’ tell me you’d been hurt.” He cracked open the drink, then set it down on Raihan’s bedside table.

“I’m fine, I promise,” Raihan said, then had the decency to sound apologetic, “And I’m sorry for not telling you I was okay. I know you must have been worried, and I appreciate that, too.”

“Don’t apologize,” Piers said firmly, “y’said yourself that you’ve been out of it. Probably on some serious meds?” He looked intently at Raihan. “....are you _really_ fine? Or are y’just tryin’ ta be a tough guy?”

“A little of both,” Raihan said honestly. “I feel like I’ve been run over by Rhyhorn, and the broken ribs are going to be a _bitch_ until they heal, but I’m managing. Especially with everyone coming together to help me. It’s…” He trailed off, searching for the right word, “…humbling.”

Piers smiled slightly. “We care ‘bout you, mate. An’ we’re all real glad you’re still with us.” He reached over and took one of Raihan’s hands, squeezing it.

Raihan squeezed it back and allowed himself the moment of weakness he refused to show to Leon, overwhelmed by the kindness his friends had shown him, and hastily blinked back tears. A healthy silence lingered between them, and Piers stroked the back of Raihan’s hand with his thumb.

Finally, Raihan wiped his eyes and leaned against Piers.

“Thanks.”

“Don’ mention it, Raihan,” Piers said softly, just barely resting his head against Raihan’s shoulder.

Raihan took a deep breath, wincing as his ribs complained, and let his eyes close, taking comfort in Piers’ weight against him.

Piers let Raihan rest against him for a while, though finally he shifted a little. “...so, Raihan…”

“Yeah?”

“...we gonna talk ‘bout the Copperajah in your room?”

“What are you talking about?” Raihan lazily opened his eyes.

Piers held up the unmistakable cape of the Champion of Galar in front of him.

Raihan stiffened. Oh hell. He hadn’t tried to hide it when Piers showed up, and it had just been sitting on the bed for all to see.

“Look,” he said. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Piers raised an eyebrow. “I’d hope not, ‘cause it _looks_ like Leon spent the night while y’were injured.”

“What? No! No, of course not! I mean, he came by this morning, but that was just because he wanted to check up on me, like you’re doing now!”

A slow, sly smirk was creeping its way along Piers’ lips.

“Right, an’ I wouldn’t think Leon would wanna do anythin’ to get in the way of you gettin’ better. So… that still leaves a mystery unsolved.” He shook the cape a little. “S’not like the Champion to be seen without his cape.”

“In all the activity last night he forgot it, and Sonia gave it to me to keep it safe,” Raihan explained, but he knew he was blushing furiously.

Piers’ smirk had turned into a grin, and he waggled the cape a little. “Keep safe and sound in y’bed~”

Raihan’s flush deepened and he snatched the cape out of Piers’ hands. “It’s not like that. Hell, where would I find the energy? It’s just…comforting.” 

Chuckling, Piers nudged Raihan’s arm gently. “Sounds like y’still got it real bad for Leon… an’ still haven’t told ‘im, I’d wager?”

“I’ve tried!” Raihan said, and he was embarrassed by how much of his voice came out in a desperate wail. “Arceus knows I’ve tried, but something always gets in the way!” 

“Hey, hey,” Piers said more seriously, resting a hand on his arm that he’d so recently nudged, “sorry t’yank yer chain, I guessed wrong… what’ve ya tried doing so far that hasn’ worked?”

“He’s barely around for starters,” Raihan said. “Though that problem may be getting better. But every time I’ve actually been with him and it felt right and I started to bring the subject up, we’re always interrupted.”

“Hm…” Piers mused, fiddling with Raihan’s fluffy robe, “y’always done it in public?”

“Yeah. We’ve hardly had the time to do anything else.”

“...I know y’want it t’be special,” Piers said quietly, “but this is really gettin’ to you. You thought about askin’ him on the phone?”

“What, just…texting him? For something so important?” 

“Maybe… it might be good on his end, too, since it’ll give him a chance to really think ‘bout it before he responds, y’know? Not puttin’ him on the spot as much.”

“I guess that’s true,” Raihan said, though he was still uncertain.

“I’m not gonna tell y’what ta do,” Piers said with a sigh, “but it might be better’n just spinnin’ yer wheels and gettin’ nowhere.”

“I’ll think about it. But thanks, Piers.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved a hand vauely. “You’ll figure it out.”

Raihan fiddled with the take out box for a moment before speaking up again.

“Hey Piers,” he said slowly, “if this works and I get together with Leon, would you be okay if what we have…ends?” He glanced furtively over at him.

Piers turned to give him a slightly coy smile. “You’ll stop givin’ me puppy-dog eyes e’ry time you’re horny?”

That startled a laugh out of Raihan and he relaxed. “Wow, okay. I didn’t realize it was such a chore for you.”

A chuckle came from Piers, and he nudged Raihan gently. “Yeh’ve never been good at hidin’ how much y’like Leon… so I always figg’red someday you two’d end up together.”

“Never could fool you, could I?” Raihan laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “I just wanted it out in the open.”

“Thanks for bein’ up front ‘bout it,” Piers said with a rare, warm smile. “Really. I hope it works out with you two.”

“That makes two of us.”

Raihan finally started in on the take out, their conversation drifting to lighter subjects, but the thought of Leon still lingered in his mind, once again keenly aware of the cape pooled beside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look! Piers is back! We made it one chapter without Piers! Thank you all for reading! We appreciate every one of you and cherish every comment!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In which Raihan tries to avoid making the nightly news."

Several days and copious amounts of painkillers later, Raihan almost felt like himself again. He was still sore, but no more than he would be from a good workout, and his headache had cleared up entirely. His knee and ribs were manageable with the pain meds, but he was supposed to wear the damn knee brace for another six weeks. The gash across the back of his head was easily hidden by a bandana and didn’t bother him, apart from being a little itchy.

It was a good thing he was feeling better, too. His first gym matches were scheduled, and no one — absolutely _no one_ — could stop him from taking on challengers. He had a gym to run, after all, and the media coverage for the Hammerlocke matches was always intense. It was the final hurdle for the Challengers, the last battle to determine if they would be competing in the semi-finals, and every battle coverage channel wanted a piece of the action. Raihan did not intend to disappoint them.

It felt good to be back in his normal routine: training his pokemon between battles, discussing strategy with his staff, and planning for the upcoming challengers. To his delight, Hop and his rival from Postwick were his first Challengers, and he was thrilled to see them in action at last. They were truly skilled trainers, both of them, and Raihan took his losses gracefully and sent them on to Wyndon City. 

He ended his last day of gym battles by being soundly defeated by Piers’ little sister Marnie, and though the battle had been fun, he was extremely grateful to be home. The front door closed behind him and Raihan limped into his kitchen and grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer. He dropped onto his couch and lay there for a moment before he groaned and propped his leg up on the coffee table with the ice pack on his knee. He’d been taking the knee brace off for the matches, not wanting journalists to speculate that he wasn’t performing at his best. While he made it through the battles just fine, his knee hurt like a bitch afterward, especially considering the number of earthquakes and other ground attacks his team tossed around.

He played on his phone while the ice did its work, shooting Piers a text to let him know that Marnie defeated him without dynamaxing and flipping through the newest battle selfies he’d posted.

A text popped up from Leon, which was at least a daily occurrence by this point, much to Raihan’s delight.

[Hey Raihan, how’re you doing?]

Raihan smiled and quickly texted back.

[Pretty good, all things considered. Just got home for the night.]

[Oh yeah? You’re still taking things easy, right? Can’t have you overdoing it right before the finals]

[I’m fine, really. I’ve had battles, but I’m fine.]

[You better be. Don’t think I won’t come over there and send you back to bed if I have to!]

Raihan smiled down at the screen, rubbing his thumb along the edge of the phone. 

[And who would run the gym? You? No one would get through to the finals!]

[Haha, I guess that’s true. But really, if there’s anything I can do, let me know, okay?]

[Will do!]

Raihan stared at his phone a moment longer, considering. He’d tried. Arceus knows he tried to do this in person. But Piers was right. A text couldn’t be interrupted (now that Leon didn’t have Oleana’s Rotom screening his phone), and it might be the only way to go.

[Actually, Lee. There is one thing.]

[Yeah? What is it?]

This was it. Oh shit, this was actually it.

[Will you go out with me?]

The reply was quick, almost immediate. 

[Definitely! Maybe lunch? There’s a really nice cafe up here in Wyndon]

Raihan stared at his phone. Had it really been that easy? A slow smile split his face and he held the phone to his chest for a moment as joy overtook him.

[Yeah, sounds good! I was actually planning on flying up there tomorrow morning. I just have to finish packing my stuff.]

[Awesome! I’ve got an open afternoon tomorrow, just before things start ramping up for the finals!] There was a beat before another text came. [Oh and Sonia said you had my cape?]

A spike of panic broke through the joy. Raihan kept telling himself he would get the cape dry cleaned and put away, but instead he was sleeping in it every night, shrouding himself with the comforting scent of Leon. 

[Yeah, I’ll bring it.]

Shit. 

[Oh good! Been missing it haha. See you tomorrow!]

_Shit!_

He put his face in his hands and groaned. It was too late to take the cape to the cleaners, and even if someone was open, there was no way it would be ready by tomorrow. The cape was probably not meant to be cleaned in a washing machine, and Raihan wasn’t going to risk destroying it to find out. He’d just have to make due with getting the wrinkles out and make sure he hadn’t drooled on the damn thing.

By the next morning, the cape was nicely ironed and folded neatly among his clothing in his suitcase. The flight to Wyndon was uneventful, and he had just enough time to get settled in his hotel room before his nerves kicked in.

The next hour was spent in agony as Raihan tried to figure out what to wear. The only long pants he’d brought were suit pants, which were far too formal for what he was going for, and he finally settled on a pair of cargo shorts and a casual button-up top. However, all it took was one step outside into the frigid Wyndon air for Raihan to turn right around and throw his usual hoodie on top of everything. 

Forget apperances, Wyndon was fucking _cold._

After that, there was nothing he could do but try to keep his nerves under control and get on with it. He grabbed the neatly folded cape and went to the cafe. 

Raihan found a seat sequestered in a quiet corner near the back of the cafe and waited. He fiddled on his phone, distracting himself with social media to keep himself calm, and only looked up when Leon finally blew in with his usual burst of energy. Despite the frigid air of Wyndon, Leon was in his usual Champion garb. Minus the cape, of course.

“Sorry I’m late!” he blustered, sitting down across from Raihan, “Charizard had to help me get here after I got turned around back by the Wyndon stadium.”

Ah yes. The stadium on the opposite end of town.

Raihan smiled. 

“Good on Charizard. Don’t worry, I haven’t been here long.”

“Oh good,” Leon let out a sigh with a smile, settling into his chair. “Man, I’m starving, what about you?” He picked up a menu, starting to peruse it, leaning casually on the table.

“I’m pretty hungry,” he said. His eyes lingered on Leon, unable to stop smiling.

Leon didn’t seem to notice for the moment, his nose in the menu. “Yeah? I mean, that’s why we’re here…” He grinned at Raihan over his menu. “I heard you had quite the busy week, with several challengers making it to you this year!”

“Oh, definitely!” Raihan leaned forward, excited as ever to talk about battling. “Especially once the drama over at Spikemuth got sorted. Hop was one of my first ones through!”

Leon beamed bright, leaning further forward onto the table. “How’d he do, did he give you a good fight?!”

“He sure did!” Raihan said. “He’s got a lot of spunk, but there’s a good head on his shoulders, too. I think he’s out of whatever funk he was in. He took me down clean and has a spot secured in the bracket tournament.”

“Yeah!!” Leon pumped a fist into the air, “I’m so glad he’s perking back up! And giving you a run for your money, eh?” He gave Raihan a mischievous grin. “You better make sure you’re in top form for the finals.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Raihan smirked. “I won’t go so easy on him next time.”

“Glad to hear it,” Leon grinned back at him, then looked up as the server arrived to take their orders. “I’ll have the Gigalith special, please?”

“And I’ll take the DynaWrap, no onions.”

The server scribbled their orders down and took their menus with a flustered giggle. 

“Can I get anything else for you, Champion Leon?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

_Oi._

Leon laughed brightly and gave her his usual press grin. “Just that special for now, though we’ll see if it fills me up!”

She burst into a fit of giggles and briefly hid behind the menus before she replied, her cheeks red. “I find it fills me up, but I bet I’ve never had anyone as big as you try!”

Raihan’s eyes narrowed. Bitch, _what?_

Another laugh escaped Leon, but Raihan could tell the innuendo sailed right over his head. “Guess we’ll just have to see how it goes!”

“Hey, can we— Like, is it okay if we got a selfie?”

“Oh!” Leon stood up immediately. “Sure! Do you have a Rotom in your phone?”

Seriously? Was Leon really going to entertain this on their first date?

She giggled again and pulled her phone out. “I do, yeah! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m meeting Champion Leon!”

Also _rude._ Leon wasn’t the only famous trainer at this table. Raihan was sitting right here, and he had an _enormous_ online presence. Leon barely knew how to put up a post.

Leon grinned as the Rotom phone popped out, hovering in front of them. “Hey Rotom! Make sure to get our good side!” He beamed at the phone, leaning a bit closer to the waitress.

She tittered and giggled again, then leaned back in, flashing a peace sign as the Rotom took a series of photos. 

“Ohmygosh, thank you so much!”

“You’re very welcome!” Leon beamed, giving her a slight salute, “I hope you’ll be watching the finals!”

“Oh, I will! I’ll be cheering for you!” She finally gave one more giggle and skittered off to put in their orders.

Raihan raised an eyebrow at him.

Leon let out a sigh as he sat back down. “A Champion’s work is never done, it seems…” He looked up at Raihan across from him. “Sorry, what were we talking about?”

“The finals, I think,” Raihan said, relaxing as they got back on track.

“Ah right,” Leon perked back up, “I’m blown away that so many challengers made it this far through the challenge! Including Hop!! I hope he goes all the way, I really do.”

“A showdown against your own brother? That’ll be in the headlines for sure, even after you put him in his place,” he grinned.

“I dunno,” Leon said, fiddling with the napkin holder, “it’d be even bigger headlines if he ended up beating me.”

Raihan’s smile faded. “You think that’s a possibility?”

Leon shrugged, not looking up at Raihan. “I mean, it’s always a possibility. The kids this year… they’re all very skilled. Some of the best I’ve seen in years.”

“Lee…” Raihan reached across the table to gently touch Leon’s hand. “Are you worried?”

The Champion looked up at him, wearing a genuine, bright smile.

“Honestly?” he said very quietly, “if anyone were to beat me, I’d want it to be Hop. Nothing would make me happier than to pass on my title to him.”

“I’m glad,” Raihan said, then winked. “Not to say that I hope you lose. Unless it’s to me, that is!”

His hand still rested on Leon’s, and Leon hadn’t pulled away.

Leon laughed merrily.

“Fair enough! You’ve been vying for my title for so long, you really ought to be first in line to inherit it!”

Raihan laughed with him, feeling a warmth inside his chest that spread all throughout him, unable to get enough of Leon’s endless cheery demeanor. His eyes were fond as he regarded Leon and he let out a long breath.

He hadn’t really planned where to go from here, but settled on savoring the moment, watching the sunshine in Leon’s eyes.

“Here’s your food!”

The server returned right when Raihan had put her out of his mind.

“Oh!” Leon said as he pulled his hand back, giving the server room to put down their food, “thank you so much!”

Raihan let out a slow breath, firmly telling himself that murdering a server in the middle of a cafe during the lunchtime rush was not going to look good on the evening news. 

“Thanks,” Raihan said through gritted teeth instead.

“Hey, is it okay if my friend comes over and gets a selfie, too?”

“Sure!” Leon replied brightly, “real quick now, though, before the food gets cold!” He stood up again, putting back on his press smile.

Really? _Really?_

“Okay! Katie, come on! Hurry!” A second server rushed over, shy and blushing, to stand beside Leon.

Leon crouched a little to get between them, grinning at the Rotom phone. “Cheese!”

The phone snapped a few more pictures, the girls giggling and fawning over him for _far_ too long before they finally hurried off.

Leon let out a much heavier sigh as he sat back down this time, and picked up his fork. “Sorry about that… I was sure not to tell anyone I was coming here… didn’t want the press to get too excited. We’re doing a big event to introduce things later tonight, anyway.”

“Makes sense,” Raihan said, starting in on his wrap. After the debacle with the servers, he was irritated that the food was genuinely good. Leon quieted down as he ate with gusto. It was amazing how much he could eat in one sitting and still stay as fit as he did.

Raihan ate with more decorum, but not much. As their conversation stopped in favor of eating, Raihan took the opportunity to take a few deep breaths, telling himself that there would always be fans getting in the way now and then, and that Raihan’s own fans would sometimes bother him in Hammerlocke. Slowly, he worked himself down enough to stop being actively annoyed at the girls that interrupted their date.

Soon, Leon leaned back with a sigh, relaxing with his hands behind his head. He smiled pleasantly. “Wow, that was really good… you sure know how to pick ‘em!” One cleated foot propped up on one of the two extra chairs as he relaxed.

Raihan laughed.

“I’m pretty sure you picked the place, but thanks all the same. And thanks for…for agreeing. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.”

“Yeah?” Leon said, looking the slightest bit confused, “well… no problem.” He rocked his chair a little, looking thoughtful. “I guess it _has_ been a really long time since we’ve been able to go out like this, huh…?”

Raihan stared at him, trying to parse out what he meant. “Since we…?”

Oh dammit. Dammit, dammit, son of a _bitch._ Leon had no idea this was supposed to be a date. He just thought it was lunch. Finally, after all this time, he managed to ask Leon out and the dumbass had no idea he’d been asked out.

That fucking _idiot._

Laughter bubbled up from somewhere in his chest, helpless, uncontrollable laughter, bordering on hysterical, enough that he threw his head back, tears beading in his eyes. Leon blinked as Raihan started laughing, and concern leaked into his expression, only getting more potent as tears started forming on Raihan’s cheeks.

“Wh… what’d I say?… Raihan…? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Raihan said, wiping the tears from his eyes and getting some measure of control over himself. “It’s nothing, really. I’m fine.”

Leon frowned a little, looking Raihan over. “If you’re sure… I….” He trailed off as he spotted Raihan’s knee. “Raihan, where’s your knee brace?”

That sure sobered him up quickly. “What? Oh. It’s fine, I’ll put it on when I get back to the hotel.”

The frown on Leon’s face grew slightly more intense. “Didn’t the doctor say you needed to wear it for two months?”

Raihan shifted in his seat. “I didn’t want the press to think I was less than my best, especially against the two challengers you endorsed. People might think I was going easy on them.”

Leon sighed, folding his arms. “Raihan… I understand putting on a face for the cameras, but you _need_ to wear it. You’re not going to get better if you don’t.” His tone was half stern, half pleading.

The plea in Leon’s voice was too much for him, and he caved without a fight.

“Okay, okay. I’ll put it on as soon as I get back to the hotel. For you.”

The Champion sighed, an exasperated smile on his lips. “You should be doing it for _you,_ but… I’ll take it.”

“Oh, that reminds me. Here.” Raihan handed over the folded cape. 

Leon perked up as Raihan handed the cape over. “Oh! Thanks a lot! It’s been a little strange without it… I didn’t realize just how much I missed it ‘til it wasn’t there, y’know?”

He slung it over his shoulders, and it unfurled and waved about as dramatically as ever. A contemplative look found his face, and he grabbed a fistful of it to hold in front of himself.

“Huh, it smells a bit different…” He mused aloud, frowning down at the silk.

“Oh, does it? It’s… ah… I mean…” Raihan fumbled, trying to find an explanation without digging himself deeper into the pit he’d started.

“Ah, I’m sure it’s because of that crazy battle with the Liepard.” He shrugged, letting the cape fall from his hand, turning his attention back to Raihan. “Do you have any other plans for today?”

“I’ve got team registration at four, but other than that, I’m open,” he said, eager to change the subject. “Why?”

“I’ve got the press event to do around six, but I could probably hang around for a bit longer…”

“I’d love that,” Raihan grinned, his heart lifting. “We can—” 

He broke off as he heard the first camera shutter snap, followed by two more. He looked toward the sound to find at least four reporters trying to snap candids of them together.

Panic rose within him. What if the press jumped to conclusions and turned them into a scandal? That was the last thing he wanted, especially for Leon.

Leon followed Raihan’s gaze as he cut himself off, and his press smile slid easily into place. He gave the reporters a wave, but spoke softly to Raihan.

“Man, those guys are relentless…” Exasperation leaked into his voice, despite his fixed press smile. “Though I suppose it’s to be expected so close to the finals.” He turned to Raihan, and his smile shifted into something more genuine. “How about I redirect their attention and you can go get that brace back on? ” His tone made it clear that he was going to do this whether Raihan liked it or not, and Raihan’s shoulders slumped.

“Okay, but only if I make it up to you later,” he said, disappointment weighing on him.

A bright grin found Leon’s face, and he gave Raihan a slight salute.

“It’s a deal.” He stood up and strode confidently toward the entrance to the cafe, pausing at the front counter to pay for both his and Raihan’s meal. Then he marched right outside to the eagerly waiting press. Flashes went off and shutters clicked like crazy as Leon waved and beamed for the cameras.

All it took was one Charizard pose and a single Champion line and they were running after him like a yamper chasing cars, trailing after him down the Wyndon streets.

Raihan watched him leave and rested his chin against his hand.

Maybe next time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Raihan's world threatens to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

“I think it’s time I brought about the Darkest Day.”

The broadcast covered every screen in the Wyndon Stadium. Leon and the kid from Postwick had just taken their places on the pitch, ready to start the final championship battle when Rose’s broadcast had interrupted and he started calmly explaining why he felt justified in releasing the apocalypse.

Raihan was already out of his seat, sprinting for the field while Rose continued to drone on about an energy crisis a thousand years from now. A quick glance showed him that the other gym leaders were doing the same.

“It’s for the sake of Galar's future, of course! But I’m in a bit of a pickle.”

Behind the Chairman, crackling red energy was building up, though Rose still spoke calmly. A low rumble rose around them, and the stadium began to shake beneath their feet.

“You see, the energy released by the Darkest Day is too much for us to contain.”

The ground in the center of the field erupted, a pillar of dynamax energy tearing into the sky like a beacon. 

“I’m sorry it’s come to this. But it’s you who forced my hand, Leon.”

“Leon!” Raihan swung over the barrier separating the stands, sprinting onto the field. His heart pounded in his ears and he let out a gasp of relief when he saw Leon hadn’t been caught in the blast. In fact, Leon had pulled away from the center of the pitch, ignoring both the broadcast and the pillar of crackling light in favor of ordering League Staff to evacuate the stadium.

“Leon!” Raihan stumbled to a halt in front of the Champion, looking up at the giant screen. “Hammerlocke. He’s in Hammerlocke. Behind him—”

“The power plant,” Leon confirmed, nodding to Raihan. “We need to get there as fast as we can.” He started jogging toward the exit, connecting with the other Leaders as they all made their way out of the stadium. They followed without question, the Gym Leaders of Galar looking silently and expectantly to their Champion for leadership.

Except one.

“That crazy _sonuvabitch!_ ” Piers bellowed as he stomped over to them as they made it to the Stadium parking lot. “What th’damn _HELL_ does he think he’s doin’?!”

“I don’t know,” Leon admitted, releasing Charizard in a practiced motion, “but he was talking to me yesterday about an energy crisis a thousand years in the future.”

“Did that _fucking nark_ really pull this insane stunt to solve some problem a thousand years from now?!” Piers demanded. “He’s the one who was tappin’ into th’ dynamax energy f’power in the first place!! He even waited ‘til we were all up here for th’ finals, the damned coward!!”

A stern look from Leon quieted Piers down, and the Champion spoke calmly.

“We need to fan out and help everyone deal with this, though Hammerlocke seems to be the source. It’s also one of the more populated cities with a power spot, so we’ll need to focus evacuation efforts there pretty heavily.” He looked around at the Leaders as various flight-worthy pokemon appeared around them, bursting from their pokeballs. “Melony, I’d like you to stay here and help everyone in Wyndon. Kabu, I’d like you helping Raihan evacuate Hammerlocke.”

Melony nodded, and took off back toward the stadium with her Frosmoth. Kabu also nodded curtly to Leon, one hand on the neck of his Talonflame.

Leon turned his gaze to Bea. “Bea, can you see to Motostoke?”

“Of course,” Bea said in her usual clipped tone and gave him a sharp bow.

Leon nodded, and turned his gaze to Piers again. “Spikemuth shouldn’t be affected, so I need you to also go to Hammerlocke and help there, particularly with the news crews and keeping the public calm.”

Piers’ eyes got wide. “What?! How the hell am I supposed to do that?!”

“You’re the only one who can!” Leon insisted, “people who can’t dynamax their pokemon need to know they stand a chance at defending themselves!”

Surprise overtook Piers’ features, and he nodded silently.

“The rest of you, go help your cities evacuate and calm the dynamaxing pokémon!”

Raihan released Flygon and climbed onto his back, then motioned for Piers to join him, knowing he didn’t carry a flying type. Piers only hesitated slightly before slipping onto Flygon behind him, wrapping his thin arms around Raihan’s waist and holding on tight.

Already on Charizard’s back, Leon let out a sharp whistle, and the dragon spread its wings and shoved off of the ground, flapping hard as it took to the air. The other pokemon followed suit, the Leaders spreading out all across Galar as the sky began to darken.

The four headed for Hammerlocke with all the speed their pokemon could muster, flying in V formation with Charizard at the point. Black, ominous clouds crawled across the sky, rolling through the air in a massive spiral, and as the distinctive towers of Hammerlock came into view, it was quickly apparent that Raihan’s city was the eye of the storm.

The ground rumbled far beneath them and red lights flashed through the air, sparking off the Hammerlocke power plant like electricity. A spark lashed out, arcing far enough to strike like lightning outside the city. Moments later, a wild Bewear caught by the tendrils of energy began to dynamax, forced into enormous size and into an uncontrollable berserk rage. 

Raihan began to tremble and clutched tighter at Flygon’s neck, needing to reassure himself that he was still securely seated on his back. He looked away, burying his face in Flygon’s scales, and was struck by the sudden fear that Leon would ask them to go take care of the rampaging pokemon.

Piers wrapped himself around Raihan more tightly, squeezing him gently. “I got you, mate,” he murmured near Raihan’s ear, underneath the rushing wind.

“Raihan, Kabu!” Leon shouted over his shoulder, “get on the ground and start helping with the evacuation! Piers, see if you can’t find the news crews and try to calm everyone down! I’ll deal with the dynamaxed pokemon on my way to Rose!”

The sound of relief Raihan made was dangerously close to a sob, but it was soft enough that only Piers and Flygon heard it. Raihan lifted his head, schooling his expression and giving Leon a nod.

“On it!” 

Leon and Charizard dove toward the Bewear, flames already flickering around the lizard’s mouth. They circled around the power plant, and the pair were soon out of sight.

Flygon and Talonflame landed amidst a busy street full of panicked people.

“Your town, your rules,” Kabu said, sliding off his Talonflame. “What’s the plan?”

Raihan released all his pokemon and pulled out his phone. “Send an alert to every Rotom in Hammerlock: Evacuate the city immediately. Keep calm, head to the nearest city gate.”

“On it, Bosszzt!”

“Kabu, you head for the East Gate and direct people in that direction. Answer any questions, let people know what’s going on, and tell them the Gym Leaders and Champion Leon are working to get the situation under control.”

Kabu nodded and jogged off.

“Piers?”

“Aye?” Piers responded, finally slipping off of Flygon to the ground.

“Closest news station is two blocks east of here. Call me if you need anything, got it?”

“Got it,” he said with a nod, “right back at ya.” He started jogging off, though he pointed back at Raihan after a few paces. “Don’ do anythin’ too stupid without me, yeah?”

“No promises!” Raihan shouted back, then turned to regard his pokemon.

“Goodra, Gigalith, you take the West Gate. Duraludon and Turtonator, you’re on the South Gate. Sandaconda, you go back and forth between them and help where you can. Flygon and I will take to the air and coordinate everything from above. Questions? Good. And break!”

Between Kabu’s team, Raihan’s own pokemon, the Rotom alerts, and Piers getting word of what was happening on the news, the streets soon flooded with people evacuating the city. Raihan genuinely expected more pushback from the Hammerlock citizens for being asked to drop everything and leave, but perhaps it was the unnatural storm clouds churning in the sky and the frankly alarming sounds coming from the power plant that gave weight to his orders. He tried very hard to focus on his task at hand, and not worry about what Leon was doing, or what the sounds coming from the power plant could mean.

“I’ve got all the north districts empty,” Raihan said, Flygon landing beside Kabu for a quick breather. “How are things on your end?”

“Going well,” he reported curtly with a nod, dabbing his neck with the towel that hung over his shoulders, “the east districts are nearly cleared out, and the west is getting close. South is moving a bit slow, but steady.”

Kabu’s Arcanine bounded over to them, letting out an excited bark. “Ah, it sounds like the west districts are empty, then. Good job, boy.” Kabu smiled just slightly as he scratched the Arcanine under the chin.

“Perfect,” Raihan said. “Next we should—”

An explosion rocked the city and Kabu had to grab hold of Arcanine’s mane to stay on his feet.

“Was that—”

“—the power plant,” Raihan finished, looking toward the plumes of black smoke billowing in the center of the city.

_Leon._

“I have to help,” he said, his voice firm. “You take over. My pokemon are at the other gates. They’ll listen to you!” 

Flygon and Raihan were back in the air before Kabu could reply, racing for the power plant in the center of Hammerlocke. The entire east wall was blown out with significant damage to the gym, and smoke plumed from the wreckage. Raihan leaned down close over Flygon’s neck and they angled toward the wreckage.

“You ready?”

Flygon chirruped and dove into the smoke. Raihan pulled his hood down to cover his face, protecting it from the smoke, and trusted Flygon to navigate. They dove down, deep underground to the lower basements of the power plant. He felt Flygon land and chirp the all clear. Raihan lifted his hood to see the ruins of what used to be the core generator of the plant. Rubble lay all around him, along with the fragments of a large, oval structure. Standing in the middle of it all was Chairman Rose.

“Rose! What the hell have you done?” Raihan demanded, striding toward him. “What is all this? Where’s Leon?”

Rose’s normally immaculate hair was out of place, and his faint smile was cracked, though he seemed to be still trying to keep it up.

“He went after it,” Rose answered simply, his eyes not quite focused on Raihan as he approached.

“After _what?”_ Raihan snarled. He grabbed Rose by his suit jacket, shaking him. “What the _hell_ have you been doing in my city?”

Rose barely reacted as Raihan shook him, except to smile just a little bit more. “It’s for the good of all Galar.”

“What is? What did you do?”

“I have ensured our prosperity for years to come.” His eyes finally met Raihan’s. “You believe in the Champion, don’t you? You know that he will prevail for us, no matter what.”

Raihan looked around the room again, his eyes lingering on the remains of the oval structure. It was hollow, and almost looked like an egg that had…

The blood froze in his veins.

“What did you put him up against?” he asked, a tremor in his voice.

“Nothing that he can’t handle,” Rose said confidently. “He will save us all, and ensure our prosperity… it is my destiny… and his.”

Raihan released his grip on the Chairman’s jacket. “You lunatic. How long have you been planning this? How long have you been setting Leon up?”

“I knew the moment he took the Championship at such a young age that only someone like him could do this for us,” Rose said fondly, though there was something not quite right in his eyes.

“You’ve been planning this since he was a _kid?_ ” Raihan roared, “What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?!”

“You of all people should understand!” Rose insisted, “do you not have faith that Leon can capture Eternatus?! He is the greatest Champion that Galar has ever seen!”

“What the _hell_ is an Eternatus?”

A roar shook the power plant, the ground quaking beneath Raihan’s feet.

The Chairman looked upward, a small smile on his face. “You’ll see it soon enough. I’m sure Leon has nearly caught it by now.”

Raihan’s hands shook. He clenched a fist and punched Rose across the face hard enough to knock the Chairman to the ground and Raihan felt the blow up into his shoulder.

“You bastard,” he said, looking down at the Chairman. “If something happens to Leon, I’ll kill you.”

He meant every word. 

Rose sat stunned on the ground, tenderly nursing his bleeding lip. “H-how… how d—”

Another explosion rocked the building, sending dust and bits of debris raining down upon them. The sound came from above and Raihan returned to Flygon’s back.

“I’m going after him.”

The Chairman picked himself back up, dusting himself off rather matter-of-factly. “There are already two giant kinks in my plan… but I trust that Leon will see to them.”

“Yeah, well I’m about to add a third one,” Raihan snapped, and then they were off.

It took time for Flygon to navigate back up through the wreckage of the power plant, and every second felt like hours. The ground continued to shake, the roars from above growing more frequent, and Raihan could do nothing more than cling to Flygon and pray they made it in time. Finally, they reached the ground floor and Flygon burst out through the destroyed wall and into the air. The top of the highest tower had been blown off, and Raihan caught a glimpse of an airborne Charizard and… something else.

He’d never seen anything like it before. Long and skeletal, with an unearthly glowing light radiating from within its ribcage - the same light as dynamax energy, he noticed - the pokemon, Eternatus, writhed and coiled through the air under Charizard’s flames. 

“That’s it, keep it up, Charizard!” Leon yelled over the wind whipping about the tall tower, his steely gaze of battle familiar, though strained this time. Why wasn’t Charizard dynamaxed to combat this giant… thing?! Behind Leon were two smaller figures just stepping out of the elevator, Hop and his rival, who dashed toward Leon’s clash with the giant creature.

What the hell? What were the kids doing here?! 

“Come on, Flygon!” Raihan shouted, and Flygon put on a burst of speed, but they were still so far away, Raihan could only watch as the scene unfolded.

Charizard pulled back as the spiny creature reeled, settling down beside Leon. The Champion’s head snapped up as the kids approached, and made a move to stop them, putting on a smile. “Seems like Eternatus stopped my pokemon from dynamaxing, but we’ve worn it down! All that’s left is to catch it!”

Hop skidded to a stop at Leon’s motion, and grinned. “Yeah, you got this, Lee!”

Leon pulled a basic pokeball out and after a quick, steeling breath, he threw it at the screeching creature. His form was immaculate, and the pokeball made the slightest ‘dink!’ as it collided with the creature. In a burst of light and energy, the creature vanished into the pokeball, and it dropped like a rock to the tower floor.

“Yeah!!” Hop enthused, and went to move forward, but Leon snapped an arm out, and the two kids stopped in their tracks. Leon turned his attention back to the pokeball, which rocked once.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Leon met Charizard’s eyes for the briefest of moments. Charizard made a swift about-face motion, using its tail to help, and shoved himself toward the kids, spreading his wings out wide. Leon bent his knees and braced for impact as the familiar sound of a pokeball snapping open shattered the silence.

Metal spines and crackling red energy erupted from the pokeball, along with a deafening screech, blasting Charizard and two children back a good several feet. Charizard stayed upright, shielding Hop and his friend as they came to a stop.

Behind him lay Leon, sprawled out on the tower floor, his purple hair splayed out around him, hat long gone, and blood beginning to steadily pool beneath him.

_“LEON!!!”_

The scream ripped itself from Raihan’s throat, and only the fact that he was on Flygon’s back prevented him from charging Eternatus and tearing it apart with his bare hands. 

Eternatus dove toward the kids, but they were ready with their own teams of skilled pokemon, fighting the monster back. Flygon made a careful arc around the tower, avoiding the fight, and landed hard beside Leon’s still form.

The rage inside Raihan froze at the sight, and he clambered off Flygon and dropped to his knees beside him. Leon’s blood pooled beneath them, clinging to Raihan’s skin, soaking into the knee brace.

“Leon! Oh, Leon… Oh no…”

Charizard let out a roar and planted himself between Leon and Eternatus, battle-worn with tears beading in his blue eyes. Flygon trilled and took his place beside him, two dragons standing vigilant to protect their trainers. Leon let out a very soft moan, though he didn’t move.

“Leon…” Raihan touched his cheek with a trembling hand. “Lee, please wake up…”

A wet cough forced its way out of Leon’s mouth, his voice haggard and thick. “H-.... Hop…”

Raihan looked up and saw Hop running toward them, worry and fear in his big eyes. Hell. Raihan couldn’t let Hop see his brother like this. It would terrify him.

Like it terrified Raihan.

“It’s okay,” Raihan said quickly. “Hop’s here, he’s coming.”

Quickly and carefully, Raihan slid the cape out from under Leon’s shoulders and draped it over him, hiding the blood slowly spreading around them.

“Leon!!” Hop cried, a twinge of panic in his voice.

At the sound of Hop’s voice, Leon started moving. He reached for Raihan, trying to sit up. “R-Rai…”

Raihan put a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Lee. Don’t move. Please, j-just stay still.”

“N-no,” he managed, still struggling, his hand fumbling for Raihan’s, “gotta… smile… for Hop…”

“Okay, _okay,_ just stop. Let me help you.” Raihan caught Leon’s hand, entwining their fingers and holding it tight. He put an arm around Leon’s shoulders and helped him sit up, supporting him as Hop stumbled to a stop in front of them.

“L-Lee!!” Hop stammered, searching his brother’s face, “a-are you—?!”

Leon smiled at Hop, holding Raihan’s hand tight as a vice. “I’m fine. You and your friend… it’s all up to you now.” He winced a little, starting to struggle to get the words out. Leon’s hand trembled as he clamped down harder, his nails digging through his glove and into Raihan’s skin, “You’re gonna do… amazing.”

Hop nodded, looking determined. “R-right!! We’ll do our best!! Y-you take it easy, Lee! We got this!” He ran off back toward his friend, whose Cinderace was keeping Eternatus occupied with a flaming ball searing its spiked metal body.

As soon as Hop left, Leon let out a soft, pained noise, and utterly crumpled in Raihan’s arms.

“ _Leon,_ ” Raihan choked, holding him close. Blood was seeping through his clothes. Shit, where was it all coming from?? “It’s okay, I’m here. W-We’ve got to get you help.”

“H-hurts,” Leon’s wet voice strained out, still holding Raihan’s hand like a lifeline.

Charizard almost backed into the two as Eternatus got more oppressive, the fire lizard letting out an enraged roar. As the roar died away in the rushing mass of other sounds, a much higher-pitched howl pierced the air. It was faint at first, then it was louder, joined by another similar howl.

Tears beaded in Raihan’s eyes, purple mixing with red as his vision swam. They were interrupted by a sharp contrast of blue and orange darting in front of him.

“Bozzt! Bossz!!”

“R-Rotom?” Raihan blinked rapidly to clear the tears away, “W-what are you— c-call for help! Get help, hurry!”

“On it, Bozzt!!” The Rotom phone vanished from his sight, and he could only hope there was someone left in the city who could help.

The tower rumbled beneath them, and Leon whimpered softly as both he and Raihan were jostled.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Raihan said, and didn’t know if he was reassuring himself or Leon. “You’re gonna be okay. What hurts? You’re...there’s a lot of blood, and I don’t know where it’s coming from. Please…”

Even as the howls grew closer, Raihan’s attention was taken up by the man growing weaker in his arms.

“Ch… chest… s-... side?...” Leon trailed off with a grunt, his grip on Raihan’s hand starting to loosen. Beneath the Champion’s cape, now also bloodied, an unsettling black spike jutted a few inches out of his chest, lodged in deep at an upward angle near the bottom of his ribcage.

Shit. Oh, hell. Raihan’s first instinct was to pull the spine out, but the spine itself was probably slowing down the blood loss. He wadded up the cape — it was soaked through, there was no hiding Leon’s condition now — and gave Leon’s hand a squeeze.

“This…” Raihan’s voice cracked and he tried again. “This is going to hurt, Lee. But I need you to stay with me, okay?” Tears flowed freely down his cheeks. “I… I can’t lose you.”

He pressed the cape against Leon’s side, putting pressure on the wound to staunch the flow of blood.

A strangled cry of pain escaped Leon, and he writhed weakly in Raihan’s grip. Bursts of light from the battle occasionally illuminated Leon’s battered form, and it became more and more apparent that although the wound Raihan was treating was one of the worst, it was far from the only wound he’d sustained from Eternatus. Raihan kept up the pressure on Leon’s side, but as he took in the sheer number of wounds across Leon’s form, his heart sank. It was too much. There were too many for him to take care of on his own.

“R… Rai…” Leon weakly managed. He feebly searched for Raihan’s hand, but was barely able to brush his fingers against his arm before Leon’s entire form went limp. 

A cold knot of dread wrapped around his heart and Raihan broke. He fell forward and wept into Leon’s chest.

“Leon! Lee, no! Please…” He let out a sob and whispered words no one could hear. “I love you…”

What came after passed in a fog, as if part of Raihan had vanished when Leon lost consciousness, and he was only half aware of anything that wasn’t Leon. He was vaguely aware of two strange pokemon fighting alongside the kids, and of the dark presence of Eternatus vanishing, though if it was captured or killed, he didn’t care. Nothing mattered more than the man dying in his arms. He vaguely remembered the kids shouting something at him, and the fear in Hop’s voice. There was no comfort Raihan could offer this time. 

He remembered paramedics finally arriving, and Leon being pulled away from him while he screamed and begged for them not to take him away, sure that he’d never see Leon again. He remembered weeping into green scales as Flygon curled around him. 

“Raihan. ...hey, mate, look at me.”

Piers’ voice cut through the fog in his mind and Raihan stirred, looking up blearily.

“P-Piers?” His voice was hoarse.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Piers’ hand stroked some of the tears from Raihan’s face, crouching in front of him. “C’mon, let’s get you out of here.”

“He’s gone,” Raihan whimpered. “They took him away from me and now he’s gone.”

“They took ‘im to the hospital,” Piers said, gently pulling Raihan to his feet. “We’re gonna go to the hospital too, but we need t’get you cleaned up first.”

Raihan stood shakily, clinging to Piers. “It was… There was so much blood… I couldn’t stop it, Piers. I couldn’t save—” 

“Shhh,” Piers soothed, stroking Raihan’s back, “y’did great, Raihan, he’s in good hands now. We’re gonna go see him.”

Raihan swallowed loudly, then nodded. “Y-yeah. Yeah. Okay.” 

He shakily fished out Flygon’s ultra ball and returned him, then stopped to stare at the smear his bloodied fingers left behind on the smooth black and yellow surface.

Piers firmly took Raihan’s hands, tugging him into motion.

“C’mon, Raihan, let’s go.”

His mind drifted into fog once again, only hazily recalling the walk from the top of the tower to his home, and only came out of it when Piers pulled him into his own bathroom.

Piers gently peeled Raihan’s bloodied clothes off of him, piling them in a heap on the tile. The singer’s jacket was hung on the bathroom doorknob, and Piers’ slightly bloody gloves joined Raihan’s clothes on the floor. He got the shower going, then gently pulled Raihan in.

Warm water washed over them both as Piers silently started scrubbing Leon’s blood off of Raihan’s skin. Raihan watched numbly as blood mixed with soap and water, spiraling down the drain. His shoulders began to shake and tears overtook him once again and he sagged forward against Piers, resting his head on his thin shoulder as he wept.

Piers wrapped his arms around him, rocking them both gently. His thin fingers trailed along Raihan’s back, his head resting gently against Raihan’s. Soft notes started reverberating off the shower walls as he hummed a soothing refrain, rocking Raihan in time to the melody.

The water was starting to run cold by the time Raihan finally cried himself out. He pulled away from Piers and reached for the soap to wash the last of the blood off his hands, but his hands trembled violently and the bar slipped through his fingers.

“Ah!” Piers managed to catch the soap after two near misses. “Lemme just get the last bit for ya, okay?”

He tenderly washed Raihan’s hands, thorough but gentle. Safely setting the soap aside, he pulled their hands under the running water and shivered as the last of the hot water slipped away.

“Damn,” he muttered, “guess that’s our cue.” Piers pulled them both out of the shower again, grabbing one of Raihan’s towels and starting to dry him off.

Raihan avoided looking at the bloody clothing on the floor as Piers worked. Finally, he stumbled out of the bathroom, functional enough to dress himself on his own. He let out a long sigh and rubbed at his puffy, bloodshot eyes before searching for Piers’ hand.

Almost immediately, Piers’ hand was entwined with Raihan’s.

“...you ready to go?” he asked quietly, squeezing Raihan’s hand.

Raihan nodded, then finally spoke, his voice hoarse from tears.

“...thank you.”

“Don’ mention it, Raihan,” Piers replied, stroking Raihan’s hand with his thumb. He led Raihan to the door, tugging him along gently by their clasped hands. Raihan followed, less numb than before, but appreciative of any small comfort he was given. 

When they reached the hospital, they found Sonia already waiting in the lobby, along with Hop and the rest of Leon’s family. Sonia rose to her feet as they entered, rushing over to them.

“Raihan, are you okay?” she questioned quietly, “Hop said you were up on the tower, too…”

Raihan nodded. “I arrived...after.” He swallowed, afraid to ask, and squeezed Piers’ hand.

“O-oh,” Sonia said, nodding back to him as her eyes trailed to the floor, “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“How is Leon doing?” Piers asked, glancing toward Hop and his family.

“As far as we know, he’s still in surgery,” she replied, “we um… we’ll know more when it’s done.”

“Right,” Piers said shortly, and tugged Raihan toward some of the more cushy-looking chairs. “Then we’ll wait.”

Raihan sat between them in the hospital waiting room, slouched over in his chair, staring at his hands, waiting for word from the doctors with his heart balanced on the edge of a knife. The minutes ticked by slowly, giving Raihan all the time in the world to think about what he could have done differently on top of the tower, how he could have done more, and all the regrets he’d ever suffered.

“Hey,” came Piers’ voice, his hand squeezing Raihan’s arm, “Raihan, the doc’s…”

A doctor stood in front of them, a Lucario by her side. The Lucario glowed briefly for a moment, and a gentle blanket of calming feelings settled on the room.

The doctor cleared her throat, clutching her clipboard to her chest. “Champion Leon is out of surgery and in a stable condition. It’s still early to say, but the procedure went very well, and we expect him to be able to make a full recovery.”

Raihan’s head snapped up and he couldn’t hold back a sob of relief.

“Is he awake?” Sonia asked with a tremor in her voice, rising to her feet.

“Not yet,” the doctor answered, “but I’ll allow you to see him if you like. We have him on some pretty strong painkillers at the moment… he likely won’t wake up for a while.”

“I want to see him,” Raihan said, getting to his feet.

The doctor glanced between Raihan and Leon’s family. “I’m sorry, visiting privileges are for family only…” 

Hop moved to stand beside Sonia and Raihan, sniffling a bit, and his eyes red and puffy.

“Th-they’re family too! They can come!” He took a shaky breath, clenching his fists. “W-we want to see him, please.”

“Of course,” the doctor said, “right this way.” 

The gratitude Raihan felt for Hop in that moment knew no bounds, and he gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. Piers stuck close to Raihan, still firmly holding onto his hand. The doctor led the group back into the hospital, to a quiet room near the back. Inside was Leon, hooked up to several machines that beeped softly and multiple IV lines, bandages all over him. He was intubated and hooked up to a ventilator, and his chest rose and fell slowly, his expression peaceful as he lay atop the hospital bed.

The doctor began going into the specifics of his condition while Sonia and Leon’s mother listened attentively but most of the words flew over Raihan’s head. Tears filled his eyes again and he leaned against Piers. 

Leon was alive. That was the only thing that mattered. He was alive and he was going to be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Leon's world is changed forever.

Raihan’s phone rang at two in the morning. He groaned and shoved his head under a pillow.

“Whossit?” He mumbled when the ringing persisted.

“It’szz Leon, Boss!” 

Raihan bolted upright, instantly awake. Two days had passed since the incident in the power plant, and Leon hadn’t regained consciousness. Until now, it seemed. 

“Answer! Now!” Raihan shouted. He flicked on his bedside lamp and his Rotom flew into his hands. 

“Audio only!”

Raihan swiped to accept the call and put the phone to his ear.

“Leon? Is that you? Are you awake? Do you need anything? Are you okay?”

“H-hey Raihan,” came Leon’s meek reply. His voice was thick, like he’d been crying. “P-please just… I…” His voice got choked again, and his next words came through tears. “I just need to know.”

“Know what?” Raihan asked, bewildered and alarmed.

Leon took a shaky breath on the other end. “...if you ever threw. D-did…” It sounded like it was taking a great effort for him to get the words out. “Did Rose ever ask you to throw your matches with me.”

The question was so out of the blue, so foreign, that it took Raihan a second to process it.

“What? Of course not! Why would you think that?”

A whimpering sob came through the phone. “Y-you promise?”

“Of course I promise! Lee, what’s going on?”

“A-and no one else? N-none of the others, right? I-it wasn’t just— Rose didn’t just—” Leon’s voice was desperate, childlike, and pleading.

Ah. _Rose._

“Of course not,” Raihan said, stumbling around in his room, trying to get dressed while holding the phone to his ear. “Hey, I’m coming over, okay? I’ll be right there.”

“O-okay,” Leon said, sniffling a little, “th-thanks, Raihan… I… I just s-saw all the stuff about Rose on the news and—” He choked again.

The incident in Hammerlocke was on every channel. The “Second Darkest Day,” they were calling it. Apparently, all Rose’s exploits of saving Galar by starting an apocalypse had been done in absolute secrecy, the full plan known only to Oleana and himself. The Galar government was not thrilled about the surprise, and did not take kindly to the ex-Chairman committing heinous schemes behind their backs. The trial date hadn’t been set yet, but the speculation was that Rose would spend a long, long time in prison.

“I’m on my way, okay? I’m gonna hang up now, but I’ll be right over.” 

Raihan shoved his hoodie over whatever clothes he’d managed to throw on by this point and took off toward the hospital. He passed night construction crews, still working tirelessly to clear the rubble out of the streets, and it wasn’t long before he reached the hospital.

It only took a little convincing of the hospital staff to see Leon, and as he neared the once nearly empty room, it became apparent that Leon’s massive fanbase had also been worried about him. Flowers, packages, plushes, and all manner of gifts and well-wishes filled the room, even spilling out into the hall.

Leon looked up as Raihan came into the room, then immediately looked away again. Tears slipped down his cheeks and shame radiated from him, and he sniffled quietly.

“Lee…” The relief at seeing Leon awake was overshadowed by the tears on his cheeks, and Raihan quickly moved to his side. “Leon, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“I-I’m sorry,” he said quietly, still not looking at Raihan, “...so sorry I h-had to ask you that. I just n-needed to know how much… how much of e-everything was…” He took a shaky breath. “Was made up. I should’ve kn-known somethin’ was up… should’ve s-stopped him…” His tears were coming more quickly now. “H-he always told m-me everything we did was for the good of G-Galar… I’ve always w-wanted the b-best for everyone… to make everyone ha-happy and the b-best they can be…”

Finally he couldn’t keep talking and pressed the palms of his clenched hands against his eyes, breaking into quiet sobs.

“Hey, hey…”

A fat plush Charizard was occupying the one visitor chair in the room, so Raihan sat on the edge of the bed and put an arm around Leon’s shoulders, careful not to disrupt the IV line or ECG wires. 

“I’ve never given you anything but my best in battle. And I know the other leaders have, too. We were all just as shocked as you when Rose went nuts. Well. Except Piers. But he and Rose have been butting heads for years.”

Leon finally seemed to calm as Raihan wrapped an arm around him, and he took a broken breath, then leaned against him. “O-okay… th-thanks for that, Raihan… r-really… it just…” He swallowed audibly. “...thinking back over the years, I n-needed to know that at least what we had w-was real. That maybe I wasn’t entirely just… a puppet on his strings.”

“You’re not a puppet, Leon,” he said firmly. “Rose was using all of us. How many years has that thing been right under my gym? I didn’t know. None of us knew.”

A shaky sigh escaped Leon, and he nodded slowly. “Right, right… okay… s-sorry… It— it doesn’t mean I don’t t-trust you! Because that’s not true!” He was getting upset again, the heart rate monitor starting to beep more quickly.

“Hey, hey, Lee. It’s okay. Shhh…” Raihan began to absently stroke Leon’s hair. “I know you trust me. And I trust you more than anyone else in the world. This is a lot to take in, and I know you were closer to Rose than any of us. We’re all still reeling from it, and we haven’t been out cold for two days. But we’re all here for you. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

Leon leaned into Raihan’s gentle touches, and he reached up to gently grip the front pocket of Raihan’s hoodie. “O-okay… okay… thanks, Raihan… I… I’m still trying to remember everything that happened…” His pulse spiked again as his eyes got wide and he gripped tighter on Raihan’s hoodie.

“Hop!! I-is Hop okay?! Th-the news said Eternatus had been caught, b-but—”

“He’s fine, he’s fine! He and his rival are basking in the glory and publicity of saving Galar. They’re good kids. Strong and brave,” Raihan said, giving Leon’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Like another kid from Postwick I know.”

“Oh good,” Leon relaxed more fully this time, “they _are_ good kids. I’m glad they came through…” His bottom lip trembled. “...when I couldn’t.”

“Don’t forget that you wore it down,” Raihan said. He rested his head atop Leon’s, pulling him further into his embrace. “You put it on the ropes before the kids and their magic dogs showed up. And maybe it’s okay to let Hop be there for _you_ this time.”

Leon seemed to consider that for a moment, and ultimately nodded. “...you’re right. I’m really glad they showed up when they did. And you…” One of Leon’s hands found Raihan’s, holding it tightly as his eyes unfocused, seeming to go back to those moments on the top of the tower. “…thanks for helping me keep it together for him.”

Raihan closed his eyes. He thought about Leon’s warm form against him, his hair soft against his neck, fingers entwined with his. He thought about the words he whispered on the top of that miserable tower when Leon couldn’t hear him. If Raihan concentrated, he could still feel the warm, slick blood coating his fingers, and Leon’s weakening pulse beneath his hands.

_Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…_

The monitor pulsed softly in time with Leon’s heart and Raihan slowly opened his eyes.

“You’re welcome,” Raihan said softly, and nothing more. 

Leon held fast to Raihan’s hand, not seeming to want to let go anytime soon, and stayed silently relaxed against him for a long while. Gradually, his pulse evened out and settled at a slower, steady rhythm as he started calming to the point of being tired again. He yawned wide, exhausted from even just the last few hours awake, and took a deep breath.

“Oh man,” he said finally, eyes drooping, “guess’m still pretty tired…”

“It’s, like, three in the morning,” Raihan said. He stroked Leon’s hair with his free hand. “And you still need rest.”

“Mmkay,” Leon said groggily, and took in another breath near Raihan’s chest. A sleepy, slightly silly smile found his face. “Oh… was _you.”_

“Hm?” Raihan asked eloquently.

“M’cape,” Leon mumbled into his hoodie, “smelled like you.”

And with a small sigh, Leon fell into a deep sleep in his arms.

Raihan froze. His heart pounded in his chest, and only snapped out of it when Leon gave a snore from the awkward angle his head was propped up at. He needed to move. No, he needed to leave, go home, get some sleep, and let Leon get the rest he needed. And maybe, if he was lucky, Leon would either forget that his cape smelled like Raihan after it was in his bed for a few days, or else he’d never make the connection and never figure out what happened. 

Raihan tried to gently pull away, only to find that Leon had worked his arm all the way through the hoodie pocket and was now thoroughly tangled in it. He could probably untangle Leon, but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t wake him up, and that was the last thing he wanted. Carefully, Raihan slipped out of his hoodie instead, sliding out of Leon’s grip and off the hospital bed.

Leon stirred a little as Raihan shifted, and once Raihan had slipped away, Leon pulled the abandoned hoodie in close. He buried his face into the fabric and eased back into a deep sleep.

“Well, fine.” Raihan muttered. “Keep it, then.” 

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and headed home.

* * *

A week later, Leon was out of the hospital, though with strict orders from his doctors to rest. Another three days, and Leon was already petitioning the League to schedule the final Championship Battle, no matter what the doctors said. After ten more days of negotiations between the League, Leon, and Leon’s doctors, the match between Champion Leon and the kid from Postwick who captured Eternatus and saved Galar was scheduled for the following Saturday.

And an hour after Raihan took his seat in the stadium, he watched Leon’s world fall apart all over again.

Sure, Leon was all smiles for the cameras, congratulating his opponent and praising their skills as a trainer, but Raihan saw the pain behind those golden eyes. He tried to get to him after the match, but Leon was swarmed with press. To his surprise, Raihan had his own share of interviewers in his face as well.

By the time Raihan shook off the last of the cameras and microphones, Leon was gone. And not just out of the stadium dodging interviews, he was _gone._ It was if he’d vanished off the face of the planet, and the only reason Raihan knew he wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere was because he could see Leon had read his many texts to him, though he never replied.

“He’s fine,” Hop assured him when Raihan came poking through Postwick the next day, wondering if Leon had returned home. “He said he needed some time alone. And if there’s an emergency, I know where he’s at.”

Raihan had a brief flare of sour jealousy that Leon had told Hop where he was and not himself, but it died quickly, replaced by shame. He couldn’t imagine what the Champi-...the Ex-Champion was going through. Ten years was a long time for a win streak, and a long time to be on top of the world. And to have it all come crashing down? After the Second Darkest Day? It was more than some people could handle.

He just wished he could help.

It was another agonizing day of silence before Raihan finally got a text back from Leon. The message contained only a picture, showing the four old tapestries in the Vault, minutes away from Raihan’s house. Raihan was out the door immediately, and it was all he could do to not sprint for the Vault. 

“Leon?” He asked as he pulled open the old stone door. 

Leon stood before the tapestries, dressed in casual clothes, all traces of his Champion garb gone. He turned just slightly as Raihan entered, giving him a small but genuine smile.

“Hey Raihan,” he said simply, then turned his gaze back to the tapestries.

Raihan moved to stand beside him. “Hey. Haven’t gotten a chance to talk since…well.”

“Yeah,” Leon confirmed, nodding a bit, “…since I lost.”

Raihan flinched at the word. “How’re you handling it?”

The former Champion was silent for a long moment. He stared straight ahead at the tapestries in front of them.

“I… I don’t know. Perhaps it was time to pass the torch. I gave it my all… couldn’t even claim I was injured or out of it. I was present, I did my best… and I still lost.” He swallowed. “It… it got me thinking… about how lonely it’s been. Being the ‘unbeatable champion’. Everyone would say things like ‘you’re untouchable!’ and it was supposed to be a compliment. But now… I’m not so sure.”

He glanced at Raihan, shame in his eyes, before he continued.

“You… you were the only person who _really_ gave me a run for my money, y’know. The only one I felt like was up there, near the top with me. But… I still kept you at arm’s length. Our rivalry made me reconsider when I thought about maybe proposing certain kinds of events or even whether or not we should be seen in public together.” His face scrunched up with distaste. “‘Maintain professionalism’, Oleana used to say to me.” His gaze grew steely. “Back when she had Rotoms screening my phone.”

He let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair, then fixed his hat. It was a different hat today than the one he always wore with his Champion outfit.

“It wasn’t just that, though… I’ve always been pretty, uh… single-minded when it came to pokemon battles… and yours were always the best I got! So, generally my head’s only full of stuff like that, _especially_ when you’re around.” Leon cleared his throat a little. “I just can’t help but wonder… now that Sonia has confirmed for sure that there were _two_ Champions back in ancient times… and we know that it was Hop and his rival’s friendship that called those powerful pokemon to their aid…

“I wonder if I’d been less distant, if I’d been able to be the Champion that Galar needed, when they needed me most.” He turned to smile a little at Raihan, his eyes shining with tears, though they didn’t fall just yet. “With you.” Leon blinked back the tears, biting his lip and looking away again, and tugged at his hat.

“...so I wanted to apologize. I’m sorry for being so wrapped up in my own stuff that I failed to be a good friend.”

“No! No, don’t— you haven’t— Lee, how can you say that? You’re the best friend I have! Being distant and being busy are two very different things. And, you know… some of this is my fault, too.”

Raihan habitually moved to shove his hands in his pockets, only to realize he still didn’t have his hoodie back. He awkwardly fumbled for a bit, then put a hand on his hip instead. 

“I put you on a pedestal. ‘My Rival, The Great Undefeated Champion Leon.’ I’ve spent years talking you up to Challengers, telling them I was their last obstacle before they could get to you. And this time, I failed at even that. At least three Challengers got through me to the Finals this year, and one of them took your title away from you. I was the last bastion before the Champion, and I couldn’t protect you.”

Surprise sparked across Leon’s face, and he looked over at Raihan. “Protect me?... From losing?”

“Yeah,” Raihan said. “You know… because, even when I trash talk about beating you one day and taking your title, I really admire you. And with admiration came idolization, even if it was really only in public, and so… I’ve been distant, too.”

Leon looked even more surprised, though he regained his composure and shook his head. “Then maybe we’ve both been kinda distant… not being as open with each other as maybe we could’ve been. But now, more than ever, I know that instead of a protector or a rival… I’d much rather have a friend.”

A bright smile finally found his face.

“A best friend. Someone to just hang out with, and maybe, y’know… talk about more than just battling. Like we used to.” Leon’s grin got sheepish. “Arceus knows I’m gonna have a _lot_ more free time nowadays…”

He was never going to get a better opening than that, or in a better place: alone, in the peaceful atmosphere of the Vault. Now or never, do or die, just own up and _do_ it already!

“Yeah,” Raihan’s heart pounded in his chest. “And you know, with more free time, we can spend more time together. A lot more time together.”

He turned to face him and took a deep breath.

“Leon, I’ve been trying to find the right time to say it, but… I like you.”

Leon seemed to recognize that something was happening, since he turned fully toward Raihan in response, though his expression shifted into one of confusion.

“You… like me?”

“I mean,” Raihan said, desperately trying to get his nerves in check. “I really like you. I…”

He growled at himself and ran a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment and took a deep breath before meeting Leon’s eyes.

“Leon, I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time, but couldn’t find a way to say it. I can’t imagine a world without you in my life. _I love you.”_

Leon drew in a short breath, his golden eyes searching Raihan’s as his words lingered in the air.

“…l… love? … _me?”_ He blinked for a moment, reeling. “But…” His eyes met Raihan’s, open and honest, searching for an answer. “What about Piers? Don’t you… aren’t you…?”

_Oh no._

“Piers and I… no, it’s like a friends with benefits thing. I don’t— I mean, he’s a good friend, but it’s not like…”

_No no no no…_

“And it would stop! I mean, if we were together, I wouldn’t— we wouldn’t— ”

Raihan could only flounder as the situation spiraled out of control.

Leon relaxed a bit, but kept his intense gaze locked with Raihan’s.

“…you want… you want us to be together? You said… you’ve loved me… for a long time?” He still sought his answers in Raihan’s green eyes, but Raihan didn’t know what he was looking for. “I…”

“Yeah, I’ve just…” This wasn’t going the way he wanted and he didn’t know how to salvage it. “It’s like you said. I was worried about what people would think, the press and everything, and scared that the papers would say it was a scandal, but… but now that we’ll have some free time…”

Leon’s gaze finally slipped away from Raihan’s. He tugged on his hat, covering his eyes.

“…Raihan… you’re my best friend. I… I don’t want to string you along o-or… or hurt you. But… I’m gonna need some time to think about this.”

Something cracked in Raihan’s soul.

“Oh. Yeah. Of course.”

“…I’ll see you soon, yeah?” He gave Raihan a small smile, then headed for the door to the Vault. The heavy door slammed shut behind him, the sound ringing through the room.

Raihan waited until the sound of Leon’s footsteps on the stairs faded, then he leaned back against the stone wall, wrapped his arms around himself, and sank to the ground. He clutched at the tattered remains of his heart and let a decade of dreams shatter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In which Leon makes a discovery."

Leon let his feet lead the way, moving briskly through the Hammerlocke streets, his heart pounding in his ears and his head feeling like it was full of static. It wasn’t until he found himself out in the wilds did his thoughts finally catch up with him and he realized he was running.

Love?

He slowed to a meandering pace, moseying through a grassy field filled with Combee. Leon took a deep breath of the clear, fresh air, trying to orient himself.

Raihan _loved_ him? Why was that scary?

He was definitely scared, he concluded, as he spared a glance back at the city he’d hastily left behind him. But why was he scared? He and Raihan were best friends, they’d just affirmed that.

The image of Raihan’s face after he’d admitted he needed some time to think flashed through his mind. His hat’s brim hadn’t been enough to protect him from seeing that. He’d hurt Raihan’s feelings.

That was it, he realized. He was afraid of hurting him.

_Well, champion, old chap,_ Leon thought to himself, a twinge twisting in his chest as he thought the all-too-familiar term without trying, _you’ve **already** hurt him. And now you’re going to make it worse when you have to tell him you don’t feel the same way._

He stopped beneath a tree for a moment, leaning on it and watching a group of Lapras play in the nearby lake. Two of them played together very closely, and Leon fiddled with the sleeves of his jacket as he watched the two pokemon stop to nuzzle each other, making happy crooning noises. He looked away, a slight blush finding his cheeks as he tried to imagine what it would be like to do things like that with Raihan.

How could he ever admit to Raihan—the man who’d never been shy about his conquests—that he’d never slept with anyone? That he’d never _kissed_ anyone? No, Raihan deserved someone who was good at that stuff. It was easy to recall the numerous awkward experiences he’d had with people—fans—offering, begging, pleading him to go out with them. To… do other things with them.

Each had gotten a polite rejection, and when that hadn’t worked, sometimes he’d had to play dumb to their advances, and eventually they stopped. He shook his head, expelling the bad memories. Leon didn’t want to do that to Raihan, he was different than them.

But then how would he deal with this?

A groan of frustration scared off the Lapras, and he sighed, tossing Charizard’s pokeball out. Charizard tilted his head at Leon, confused about this new flavor of melancholy. 

“I’m okay, bud,” Leon reassured him with a smile, “I just need to go back home for a bit. Think you could give me a lift?”

Charizard happily complied, and was all too eager to stretch his wings. It wasn’t long before the two drifted over the wilds, heading for Postwick, and Leon got more lost during the journey, this time, in his own head.

Finally, he had gone in enough mental circles that he was sure he was going to give himself a headache. What was he supposed to do? Who would be able to help him through this?

Sonia, the thought came plainly.

Of course. He smiled, thinking of Sonia’s often-exasperated expression. Sonia was way smarter than he was, and she’d always been there when he needed her most.

As they soared over Turffield, he sent Sonia a text.

[Hey Sonia. Any chance you could meet me at my house today to talk?]

He let out a sigh, relaxing on Charizard’s back, the dragon banking left and right lazily as he waited for Sonia’s response. Hopefully she wasn’t too busy with her new book and research. Holding a hand out into the wind, he moved it along with the air currents, spreading his fingers to feel it between them. The rushing feeling pierced the spaces between his fingers and he remembered the feeling of Raihan’s hand in his, anchoring him as he put on a smile for Hop. He slowly clasped his hand, only to find that there was nothing there but the wind.

His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

[Of course! Do you need me to bring anything?]

Leon considered this for a moment. What did she mean? She’d probably bring Yamper, since the pokemon went everywhere with her, but… 

A loud growling from his stomach interrupted his thoughts, and one thought to the scrummy curry Sonia made got his fingers typing again.

[Maybe some curry?]

[I’ll bring your favorite.]

Leon smiled as he put his phone away. Sonia was a good friend, too. Even if he didn’t always understand her or her research.

It wasn’t long before Charizard touched down in front of his family home, and he returned Charizard to his pokeball. He waved to his mother on his way in, letting her know that Sonia was on her way. The trek up the stairs was familiar, and Leon welcomed it almost as much as he welcomed his bed. Letting out a heavy sigh, he flopped face-down on it, groaning into his pillow.

He’d distracted himself from Raihan’s confession for a while, but soon he’d have to be explaining that to Sonia. Sitting up, he looked around his room, trying to find something else to keep his mind occupied. His eyes fell on his many trophies, and he found that nearly as painful as the sickness already in his chest. Finally, his eyes found a familiar splash of color.

It was Raihan’s hoodie, folded up neatly on his desk. He’d somehow ended up with it when he’d been in the hospital, and he’d been so stuck in his own head, he’d forgotten to take it with him today when he went to Hammerlocke.

Great. On top of everything, he’d also inadvertently stolen Raihan’s favorite hoodie.

Leon mussed his own unruly hair further as he felt a disgusting mess of emotion settle in his chest as he was reminded of Raihan’s hurt face and having to confront it again.

The doorbell rang, followed shortly by the sounds of Leon’s mother greeting Sonia. They had a few pleasant exchanges, muffled and indistinct from all the way in Leon’s room, and finally Sonia’s footsteps hustled up the stairs, along with Yamper’s familiar scurrying feet.

“Leon?” Sonia knocked on his open door. “I brought your favorite curry…”

Leon looked up and tried to give her a smile, though it was definitely strained. He made a motion for Sonia to come sit next to him on the bed.

“Hey Sonia… thanks for coming. Hi Yamper… good to see you, too.” He stroked the pokemon’s head, letting it lick his fingers.

Sonia sat beside him and handed him one of two plastic containers, along with a spoon.

“Of course! I’m always happy to make your favorite comfort food when you’re down.”

Leon took the curry and the spoon, his smile brightening a bit.

“Yeah, you are… thanks for that, too.” He took a few bites, eating quietly before he stopped, unable to keep eating as that sick feeling settled in him again.

“…Sonia,” he started, his voice quiet and tentative, “I hurt Raihan today, and I think I have to do it again…and I don’t know what to do.”

Whatever Sonia was prepared for, it must not have been that.

“Wait, what?” She said in shock. “Raihan? You mean, this isn’t because…” 

Her eyes flicked quickly at the trophies before looking back to Leon.

Leon blinked back at her in surprise, then snorted slightly, shaking his head. _You dummy,_ he internally chided, _of course that’s what she’s gonna think you’re upset about._

“No, no, sorry… that—that’s still, I mean…” He sighed, rubbing his face. “Everything’s kinda become a mess. Raihan… he um…”

Leon worried his lip for a bit before he could continue.

“...Raihan told me that he loves me. Like… _loves_ me, wants to—to be _together,_ and stuff. A-and I…” he trailed off, not knowing how to finish.

Sonia’s eyes widened. 

“Oh no. He finally…” She bit her lip. “Leon, what happened?”

“H-he told me that he loved me, that he couldn’t imagine a world without me, that he wanted us to be _together!_ I… I didn’t really know what to say…” He winced. “B-but I saw his face, w-when I said I needed some time to think about it… I hurt him… I really hurt him… I got so scared, I almost ran out of there! And I’m gonna have to do it again when I go back to tell him that I don’t love him!”

Sonia’s face fell.

“Oh, Leon… Honey, I’m so sorry.” She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a hug.

Leon clung to her, trembling.

“I-I’ve never— I mean… how am I supposed to tell him? Without ruining everything? I don’t think I could t-take it… losing so much that I care about so close together…”

She held him tight, stroking his back.

“It’s alright. You aren’t going to lose him. I’m here to help, and we’re going to work this out together.”

Leon took a deep breath, calming himself down. “Okay… okay. Right. We’ll work it out.”

She gave him a squeeze and then got more comfortable on the bed. “You’ve had a lot thrown at you and you’re overwhelmed. Let’s take this one step at a time, okay? I want you to close your eyes.”

He frowned slightly. “What? Close my eyes? How’s that gonna help anything?”

“It will help remove any distractions so you can just focus on what I say and how you feel,” she said patiently.

Leon still looked a bit unsure, but finally closed his eyes. “Okay… if you say so.”

“Now take a deep breath, hold it, let it out. Another…and out. How do you feel?”

His brow furrowed, and he tried to concentrate and do what Sonia asked. Though looking inward right now felt like staring into a thick briar patch.

“Um… I mean… I feel… icky. I feel really gross after seeing how I hurt Raihan.”

“Why?” she asked. “Do you feel gross because of what he said?”

He thought about that for a minute.

“…no… it was because I couldn’t… I didn’t feel like I could say the same thing back to him.”

“Raihan told you that he loved you, and you don’t feel the same way,” Sonia repeated. “And that hurts, makes you feel sick inside because you know it will hurt Raihan’s feelings?”

Leon nodded, his brow furrowing further. “Y-yeah. I… I hate the idea that I’d ever hurt Raihan. That—that was what scared me… when I realized I’d hurt him. I ran as fast as I could… hoping I’d run off all the gunk in my chest…” He clutched a hand tightly around his shirt. “…didn’t work.”

“Why does hurting him scare you?”

“H-huh?” Leon opened his eyes for a moment in his surprise before he scrunched them closed again. “What kinda question is that? ‘Course I don’t want to hurt him, he’s my best friend!”

“Hurting him might make you sad, or regretful, or sorry, or ashamed. Why fear?”

“Well, because…” He searched for words for a moment, trying to sift through his feelings, something he admittedly didn’t do very often. Reaching through the briars inside him was painful, and he was terrified of what he’d find. “…because I… I can’t lose Raihan. That thought s-scares me more than anything else. If I make him sad enough… if I hurt him enough times and he leaves…” 

Leon shifted physically to one side as his mind finally rested on a bundle of thoughts he’d buried deep inside himself months ago. “…if I can’t save him next time, I-I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Can’t save him next time?” Sonia asked, sounding confused.

“O-oh, um…” Leon stammered, hoping they could move past this point quickly, “...it was that… that incident with the dynamaxed Liepard. I…” His voice got strained. “I thought for a bit that I lost him, then.”

Sonia was silent for a moment. “And what did you feel when you thought he was dead?”

Her voice wavered on the final word.

Leon felt an agonizing clench in his chest, holding fast to his heart and lungs. He swallowed loudly, straining to speak through the compression in his chest.

“I… I felt… n-nothing. Nothing and _everything._ Th-the world crashed down and I knew I couldn’t fix it. S-so much bl-blood and I was sure that he was gone and I’d n-never see him again…” He let out a strained noise as he relived that moment, repeating himself. “…the world ended.”

Sonia was silent for a long moment.

“What did you do?”

Leon clutched to himself, gripping the sleeves of his shirt so tightly the fabric strained. “I… I don’t really remember… I just… lost it. I wanted to rip apart the whole earth with my bare hands. I wanted to throw myself at anything that could hurt me so that things inside could hurt less!”

The static was returning to his mind, blood rushing through his ears as his heart pounded and he felt the seams of his sleeves start to tear apart.

“What would you have done if…he was gone?” Sonia all but whispered.

He shook his head immediately, his nails digging into his arms as the thorns of Sonia’s words choked his heart. “Don’t wanna think about it, Sonia… please don’t make me think about it.”

“What would you do if Raihan was gone forever?” She pressed.

Leon let out a small wail as an icy spike of pain lanced through him. Even just trying to entertain the thought sent his mind reeling and his stomach plummeting. His voice came out far louder than he meant it to.

“It’d hurt! I’d never be the same!! I’d wish I could follow him and know I couldn’t!” Warm tears were streaming down his cheeks, though he hardly noticed them. “W-what do you want me to say, Sonia?! Part of me would be gone, too!”

She put an arm around him and held him close. 

“Shhh… It’s okay. I’m sorry. It’s okay. Because Raihan’s not gone. He’s safe, and so are you.”

Leon sniffled and leaned against her, nodding numbly, clinging to her and her words as he tried to force his way back out of his thorny, painful memories.

“How did you feel when you saw he was alive?” Sonia asked, rubbing his back soothingly.

“…the world started making sense again. Y-you were there… telling me he needed help. So I got him to help. Because I couldn’t let the world turn red again…because I c-couldn’t lose him.”

Leon took another steeling breath, beating back the images of Raihan bloodied and motionless. He replaced them with warm memories of Raihan smiling, laughing at something he’d said, wearing a grin as casual and comfy as his hoodie. Gradually, he felt his heart rate begin to slow, and his breaths come more regularly. 

“I’m so glad he’s safe… glad that—that _thing_ didn’t hurt him, too…” An intense shudder spiked through him as memories of Eternatus resurfaced in his mind. His mind shut like a trap on those memories, not willing to sift through them now.

“Me too,” Sonia said, and clung to Leon a little tighter. “I’m sorry I upset you. Can I ask you one more question?”

“…okay,” Leon said quietly. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

“What do you feel when you think about Raihan, safe and happy?”

Leon startled, not expecting a question like that, and he thought about it. He once again pictured Raihan, grinning and laughing. Like he so often was when the two were together. Unwittingly, Leon’s posture smoothed out and he relaxed further.

“I feel happy, too. Knowing that he’s happy and safe.”

“Just happy?”

“Well… happy. Warm… y’know. Comforted. Like…” He frowned, now fumbling around in the summery part of his mind, trying to find a way to describe the sun he could feel there. “...like… when you smell those smells you sometimes get a whiff of and it reminds you of a really good memory.” 

Weird, that was specific. Why did he think of that? He’d had that feeling recently. But he was having trouble remembering the exact instance. His memory for anything but pokemon stats was such pants.

“Smells? You mean like your favorite food? Or old books? Or rainy days by the ocean?”

He frowned. “No, not like that… like… the smell of sunscreen…” 

That one was for Hop, he knew. Distinct memories were tied to that smell; of making sure Hop had sunscreen on before the two of them went out exploring, of cheerful adventures they’d shared together when they were younger. But that wasn’t what he’d experienced recently. He kept fishing for it, so hard to describe when he wasn’t smelling it right then.

“Or the smell of the chalk powder you put on your hands at the gym… or… or something really deep, almost spicy… mixed in with soap…”

“Soap? I like that sweet, clean smell of just getting out of a bubble bath…”

Leon frowned again, finally opening his eyes as they seemed to get a bit off-topic. “Yeah, that’s nice, but not quite what I…” His gaze fell upon the folded hoodie on his desk. He blinked at it a moment, then suddenly surged toward it, grabbing the hoodie and pressing it to his face.

_Raihan._

In a rush, he felt something click into place as memories started resurfacing with that familiar smell. Memories of laughing together at the gym, of warm summer days spent training their pokemon, and more recent, distinct recollections of hands on his, a chin resting on his head, and strong arms around him.

A warm, too warm feeling filled his chest and he clutched the hoodie tightly as he realized that he had placed Hop and Raihan near each other in his heart. The two people he cared for the most.

…love?

He looked dumbly over at Sonia.

“…I love him?” was all he could weakly manage, the static in his mind starting to ease into warm white noise.

Sonia rose to her feet and gave him a bright smile. 

“I can’t tell you how you feel, Leon. But I see the way you smile around him, and I see the way he makes you laugh. I’ve seen you lose control when he was hurt. And everything you just said? About how he feels like your whole world and everything is bright and warm when he’s around? That’s how I feel about Nessa, and I love her.”

Leon looked between Sonia and the hoodie for a moment, then held it even tighter. It felt like his chest was on fire, but it burned with a pleasant warmth as he settled into this realization. As his heart began to pound, a smile spread across his face.

“I… I love him… I _love_ him!” he exclaimed, turning to look at Sonia. “This is great!”

Raihan’s upset face flashed through his mind, dousing those flames somewhat and his grin dropped like a sack of bricks.

“Wait, no, this is _terrible!!_ He thinks I _don’t_ love him! Oh no!!” He started frantically gathering up his things, still unwilling to let go of the hoodie.

Sonia smiled wide and started to help him gather his things, but soon just stood out of his way and followed him out the door. 

“Good luck! Let me know how it goes!”

“Thanks a lot, Sonia!!” Leon beamed at her as he stood just outside his house, his eyes fond. He really owed Sonia for this one. 

“I know I can always count on you when I get lost.”

Tears glimmered in Sonia’s own eyes and she rushed forward to give him a hug. 

“I was happy to help.”

Leon gave her a warm hug in return, squeezing her gently before he pulled away.

“Well, I’d better get back to Hammerlocke… can’t leave Raihan waiting any longer! See you later, Sonia!” 

With that, he took off running, moving much quicker and now feeling much freer without the heavy Champion’s coat on his shoulders.

“Wait, Leon! Hammerlocke is _that_ way!”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everything finally comes together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remain seated until the ride has come to a complete stop.

Raihan curled into a ball on his bed and wept. Face buried in the covers, arms wrapped around his pillow, he fell to pieces in the safety and solitude of his home. 

Why did he think Leon would love him back? Just because they were friends? Because Leon was the best person he knew? Because Leon had a blinding smile and a heart spun of pure gold and a laugh that could make the sun come up? Anyone would fall in love with that, and hundreds of people had. Why did Raihan think he was different? Why would Leon ever love _him?_ He was vulgar and rude and a smartass…everything Leon wasn’t.

He shouldn’t have said anything. He was better off keeping his trap shut and he should have settled for having the most amazing best friend in the world.

Instead, he had to go and ruin everything. Even if, by some miracle, Leon still wanted to be friends with him after this, nothing would be the same. Leon would always know Raihan wanted something more, which would make him uncomfortable and taint their entire friendship.

Raihan had ruined _everything_ because he was so greedy he couldn’t just be happy with what he had. With luck, he would just never see Leon again and never be subjected to the longing of wanting something unattainable. His thoughts continued in a downward spiral until he’d cried himself out, leaving him clutching his pillow and feeling hollow, empty, and broken.

A few hours after they’d parted ways, there was a banging at Raihan’s door.

Dammit, who wanted his attention now? Whoever it was, they could come back later if it was important. He wasn’t anywhere close to presentable anyway.

The banging continued after a moment’s wait. Finally, a voice came.

“Raihan!! Raihan, it’s me! It’s Leon!” As if he wouldn’t recognize his voice. “Will you please let me in?”

Raihan tried to bolt upright, got his legs tangled in the sheets, and fell out of bed with a crash. 

What the hell? What was Leon doing back here? Raihan took far too long to free himself from his sheets and scramble to his feet, knocking over a chair in the process.

The banging finally quieted down, and Leon’s voice was heard through the door.

“I heard a crash, are you okay?!”

“Y-yeah!” Raihan called back. His voice was rough and hoarse. Now that he’d for sure given away that he was at home, there was no way Leon would leave him to his misery. He glanced in the mirror and hastily cleaned his face, though nothing could hide how red and puffy his eyes were. 

_Shit._

He half ran, half stumbled down the stairs and froze before he opened the door. Leon was probably just here to make a clean break, let him know thanks, but no thanks, and also you’re a horrible person and let’s never speak again. Raihan knew how disheveled he looked, his hair down, clothes rumpled, and barefoot, but he opened the door all the same.

There stood Leon, looking a bit helter-skelter himself, and he looked up at Raihan with a bit of surprise. Then he smiled up at Raihan, bright and sunny as ever, and held up Raihan’s hoodie triumphantly.

“Look, Raihan! I love you too!”

Raihan stared at him. It was if something shorted out in his brain, unable to comprehend what Leon was saying. No. No, Leon didn’t love him back. He’d spent the last few hours grieving and telling himself how stupid he was for thinking Leon could possibly love him. There was no way Leon could have said what he just said.

Leon’s head tilted to one side, looking at Raihan in confusion. It took another look at the hoodie before he seemed to have an idea and held Raihan’s hoodie up more insistently.

“Your hoodie, see, it smells like my cape did! I didn’t realize it until now, that it smelled like you!”

“My… w-what?” Raihan stammered, still feeling like he’d been struck on the back of the head and was sorting up from down. With nothing else in his brain functioning, he defaulted to being polite and getting Leon off the street. “Look, why don’t you come inside?” 

He stood aside and let Leon in, closing the door behind them.

Leon slipped inside, but soon got in closer to Raihan, still holding up the hoodie. He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet, and seemed to be trying hard to contain a wide grin, positive energy radiating from him.

“Because you had my cape for a while, right? So it started to smell like you ‘cause it was at your house! And I couldn’t tell what it was, but then I figured out that it was you since I ended up with your hoodie. Because your hoodie smells like you, too. Y’see?”

“I…” Clearly, he’d hallucinated the first part of their conversation, but why Leon was here, going on about his hoodie and smells and giving him that brilliant, heartwarming smile was beyond him. “Leon, why are you… what are you…” 

“Because when I smell it, when I smell _you…_ I get really happy!” He beamed at Raihan, clutching the hoodie tight to himself. “And that made me realize that when I’m _around_ you, I get really happy! Happier than I get with almost anyone else!”

Raihan’s heart hammered and his mouth went dry. It couldn’t be, could it? Could he afford the risk to his heart if he dared to hope? Would he survive another disappointment?

“You’re saying,” he said, voice rough, “I make you happy?”

Leon nodded intently, leaning toward him, still pressing the hoodie against his chest.

“Of course! The training we do together is always my favorite, you always give me the _best_ challenges in battle, and you’re always so positive and try to improve yourself, even when I beat you!” His expression fell just a little, and he bit his lower lip. “I guess I just didn’t realize how happy you made me until I made you sad…”

The smile fading from Leon’s face was enough to break Raihan out of his shock and force him into action.

“No, I… please, please don’t be upset. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything. I should have just kept my mouth shut and—” His voice cracked.

“No!” Leon said, one hand reaching to hold one of Raihan’s arms, “No, I’m glad you did! I don’t really think about stuff like this, so I’m glad you told me.”

It would be so easy to give in, to embrace Leon’s words without question, but Raihan knew that if he did, he’d spend the rest of his life wondering. He had to be sure, and it needed to be now, otherwise everything they did would be forever tainted with a seed of doubt.

“Leon. I need to know. Are you—” His voice cracked again and he swallowed, forcing himself back under control. “Are you just saying this because I’m upset?”

Green met gold as he looked down at Leon, his expressive eyes begging for the truth.

“Huh?” Leon’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head, “no, I’m saying it because it’s true! I care so much about you! I have for a long time, I just— I mean, I just didn’t realize it. You’ve always been right there with me, and I…” He bit his lip again, looking vulnerable. “…when you got hurt during that Liepard incident, I… I got so scared. So scared that you’d be gone. When I thought I lost you… the world ended.”

Leon looked right into Raihan’s eyes, the same intensity in them now that he had out on the pitch.

“That made me realize that you _are_ my world, Raihan.”

Raihan’s breath caught in his throat, and he found only earnest honesty in Leon’s fierce gaze.

“You… you love me? You really love me?” He reached forward with tentative, trembling fingers, and gently took Leon’s hand, letting the hoodie fall to the floor.

Leon’s fingers eagerly closed around Raihan’s, and he grinned brightly. His grip was firm, and he moved in closer to Raihan, beaming up at him.

“I love you!! I really do! Isn’t that great?”

A single, short bark of a laugh surprised itself out of his throat, then another, and once those floodgates had been opened, Raihan was helpless but to laugh with joy, relief, and hope. He clung to Leon’s hand and his eyes shone. 

“It is. It really is. I love you so much, and I’ve loved you for so long. You always find the bright side of any situation, and you’re so full of cheer and optimism. You can brighten a room just by walking into it,” Now that he’d started, he couldn’t stop, his heart overflowing, the words spilling out to Leon like a breaking dam. “You’re the kindest, most caring person I know, while being the most brilliant and ruthless strategist on a battlefield. Even then, every time you win, you still do your best to help everyone around you improve and become better, not just as trainers, but as people. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and I love your laugh and your smile and the shine of your eyes and I love that you are _devastatingly_ handsome.”

Leon laughed, his cheeks flushing a bit, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Sheesh, all that’s a bit embarrassing to hear, coming from you…”

“It’s true, though,” Raihan said earnestly, then lowered his eyes. “And when I thought I’d lost you up on that tower, I was so afraid I’d never have the chance to tell you how much you mean to me.”

He gave Leon’s hand a squeeze. Leon held his hand even tighter.

“...I think I understand… I was so afraid when the Liepard hurt you…”

Leon shook his head and met Raihan’s eyes.

“But we’re both here, and we’re both safe. And you _did_ get a chance to tell me, and now I told you, too!” He grinned at Raihan. “Guess that means we gotta be boyfriends now, eh?”

That surprised another laugh out of Raihan. 

“Guess so. Now we have to go on dates and stuff. Go catch a movie, long walks on the beach, fancy dinners, the whole bit.”

It was Leon’s turn to laugh, and he squeezed Raihan’s hand.

“I mean, we kinda do some of that stuff anyway, right?” A strange expression came to his face. “…wait. When we went to lunch in Wyndon…”

“Hah, yeah,” Raihan rubbed his neck. “Right after I texted ‘Do you want to go out with me?’”

“Oh crap!!” Leon exclaimed, letting go of Raihan to slap both hands on the sides of his face. “I just thought you meant, like… oh _man…_ so that’s why you were acting kinda odd.” He rubbed his face with both hands, taking a deep breath and looking very seriously at Raihan.

“I’m so sorry, if I had realized…” Leon shook his head. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Raihan but… I can be kind of dense at times.”

Raihan burst into peals of laughter, then pulled Leon into a hug. 

“Yeah. I’ve noticed. I love you anyway.”

Leon’s strong arms returned the embrace, and he rested his face against Raihan’s shoulder, taking a breath and letting it out in a sigh.

“Oh good. I know my head’s usually only full of pokemon battles… but now at least it’s full of pokemon battles _and_ you.”

Raihan gave him a squeeze and rested his chin atop his head, his heart lighter than it had ever been.

“I’m so happy and proud to have you at my side.”

“Me too,” Leon said, “I’ve always been so proud to stand opposite you every time we’ve been out on the pitch…”

Leon pulled back a bit to look up at Raihan.

“Double battles _are_ your specialty, aren’t they? Well…” He grinned brightly up at Raihan, and finally that spark that hadn’t been seen since the Second Darkest Day ignited in his eyes once again. “...you fancy fighting side-by-side from here on out?”

Raihan beamed back at him, his smile so wide it hurt, but he couldn’t stop.

“You bet!” he grinned, taking Leon’s hands into his own, then gave him a wink. “So long as you don’t mind the selfies.”

Leon laughed, bright and clear, Raihan’s heart dancing along with the sound. “You’ve always taken them anyway,” Leon’s tone got teasing, “but this time, they’ll be for victories.”

Raihan raised Leon’s hands to his lips and gave them a gentle kiss, then grinned.

“The two of us side-by-side? Nothing will be able to stand in our way.”

* * *

“Goodra, use Rain Dance!”

“Ugh, seriously Raihan?” 

“I jus’ got this jacket, and ‘m chargin’ you if y’rust up the studs on its first outin’!”

Despite all the free time initially on his hands, Leon couldn’t sit idly for long, and he was quickly neck-deep in a new project that he and Raihan both took to with enthusiasm. The newly renamed Battle Tower, formerly the Rose Tower, was finally scheduled to open to the public next week, and the only thing left to do was have a proper battle to break it in.

“What? We need to test the Battle Tower for its ability to withstand weather effects!”

“At least I didn’ bother with m’hair today,” Piers muttered as the rain completely flattened his two-toned hair.

“Don’t let your guard down!” came Leon’s firm but cheery voice, “you must be prepared for any situation!” He tapped his darkly colored hat against his chin a little, then held out his right hand. Glowing energy gathered around the band on his wrist, and a giant pokeball materialized in his hand. Leon grinned, and threw the pokeball with all his might.

With a rumbling cry, Leon’s Inteleon rose up high above the battlefield. It settled onto a platform made of its long tail, readying a harpoon of water as its red eyes glowed ominously through the misty rain.

Hop groaned and Piers rolled his eyes.

“Rain Dance _and_ Gigantimaxing?”

“Didn’ realize when y’said ‘break it in’ yeh meant it _literally._ Hope this tower’a yours can handle it.”

Raihan grinned and folded his arms. “No way to know until we test it out.” 

“Dubwool, Body Slam!”

Hop’s trusted partner let out a loud bleat, charging headfirst at Raihan’s Goodra. He made impact, but Goodra barely stumbled from her stance, shaking her head slightly as Dubwool doubled back to take its stance once again beside Obstagoon.

“Good try, Hop! But Goodra’s hide is thicker than that! ...Er...Slime?”

“Gross.”

“Inteleon,” Leon called up to the perched pokemon, “time to take out Obstagoon!”

It gave Leon a salute, then slipped onto its belly, lining up the shot. Obstagoon darted about, trying to give the sniper a harder target, but Inteleon was patient. After a few long moments, Leon suddenly clenched one of his fists. Simultaneously, the Inteleon’s shot fired, and in a burst of water, Obstagoon fell and was returned to its pokeball.

“Good job, Obstagoon,” Piers murmured as his pokemon was returned, “an’ this was a 4v4 match, yeah?”

“2v2,” Raihan shouted back. “Sorry, Piers. You’re out of the match!”

Raihan’s phone buzzed and he fished it out of his pocket. He grinned at the message and quickly started texting a reply.

“No texting and battling, Raihan,” Leon said calmly, glancing at his Goodra, waiting for instructions.

“Goodra, use Surf,” Raihan said, not looking up from his phone. “It’s Sonia! She and Nessa are in town and want to have a double date!”

Goodra happily complied, summoning a wave of water and overwhelming Dubwool with it. Inteleon readied another shot, keeping one eye on Leon, waiting for his signal.

“That’s great, hon,” Leon said with a smile, “though it can wait until the battle’s over.”

“Hang on, just let me finish—”

“Rotom,” Leon said firmly, “please go wait on the sidelines until the battle is finished.”

The phone zipped out of Raihan’s hands and went to go keep Piers company on the sidelines. 

“Hey! You don’t take orders from him!”

“Focus on your battle, Bosszzt!”

“Traitor!”

Leon was all business, standing proud in the new outfit that he’d gotten for the Battle Tower. He still held his hat, though he didn’t often wear it during battle these days.

“Inteleon,” he said, and the lanky lizard let off one more shot, taking down Dubwool with terrifying precision.

“Aw man,” Hop said as he returned Dubwool, “looks like you guys took it this time.”

“That’s right!” Raihan said, his hair plastered flat by the rain still pouring around them. “We’ll have to see how well you do after the Tower is open for business! Okay, wow. Goodra, sweetheart, darling. Battle’s over, you can cool it.”

Goodra crooned and the rain finally stopped. She waddled happily over to Raihan and Leon, leaving a trail of slime in her wake. Dynamax energy slipped away from Inteleon, and soon both pokemon were back in their pokeballs.

Raihan shook himself off and looked at Leon. 

“Damn, Lee. That new outfit really is weather proof. A torrent of rain, and you still look like a Prince fresh off the red carpet.”

With the battle over, Leon’s posture relaxed a bit, and he grinned at Raihan, shaking rainwater off his hat. “Thanks, Raihan. I’m glad you like it. I was worried it might come across as too stuffy…”

“You kidding? I love it!” Raihan allowed himself a moment to appreciate the outfit, letting his eyes roam from the collar that showed off his neck, to the suit coat that hugged Leon’s broad chest, down along tight-fitting slacks to the high boots.

Across the stadium, Hop coughed. Loudly.

Raihan grinned and made an extravagant bow. 

“Allow me to congratulate you on your first win in your new Battle Tower,” Raihan said. He took Leon’s hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of his knuckles. “The Champion of my heart.”

Leon blushed a bit, the small smile on his lips stating clearly that he liked the attention. But he kept his composure, even as Hop started catcalling.

“Get a room, ya ninnies!” Hop called out, laughing. 

“This is our Battle Tower,” Raihan shouted. “If you don’t like it, you can leave!”

“You invited _me!_ ” Hop replied with a laugh. 

“Mate, y’ really oughta password protect some’a these selfies.”

“ _Get off my phone!_ ”

Leon laughed again, his smile brighter than it had ever been as he slipped his fingers between Raihan’s, holding his hand as the two stood together on the battlefield.

“Speaking of selfies,” Leon said, leaning against Raihan, “don’t you want to celebrate your first victory with Ex-Champion Leon?”

Raihan’s eyes sparkled and he gave a sharp whistle. His Rotom phone pulled out of Piers’ hands and zipped over to the pair.

“Lookin’ good, Bosszzt!”

Raihan looked into Leon’s eyes as the Rotom searched for a good angle. 

As their gaze met, Leon’s eyes glittered mischievously, and he grinned up at Raihan.

“So, how does victory taste?”

“Let’s find out,” Raihan said, and leaned down to claim Leon’s lips in a kiss.

With a flick of his wrist, Leon held his hat in front of his and Raihan’s faces. Leon’s grin was overtaken by Raihan’s lips, and he kissed him back with gentle intensity.

Neither noticed as Hop cheered, or as Piers joined him.

For that long moment, there was only the sweet taste of victory, and the even sweeter taste of Leon. Raihan smiled against Leon’s lips and wrapped his arms around him.

As he held his Champion close, their future had never looked brighter.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was co-authored by TearsontheRocks, who understands Piers and Leon in a way I could never grasp. You can find her on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tearsontherocks) and [Tumblr!](https://tearsontherocks.tumblr.com/)
> 
> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SadinaSaphrite) and [Tumblr](https://sadinasaphrite.tumblr.com/) as SadinaSaphrite.
> 
> We did it! Thank you so much to everyone who followed us along this journey, and thank you so much for reading! We’ve loved each and every one of your comments and encouragements; we cherish each one! If you loved this fic, please share it with someone you think would also enjoy it. This has been our first time sharing our collaborative prose so publically, so please let us know what you think! Do you want more RaiLeon from us? How about a spicy PWP sequel? Maybe a little Piers/Raihan?
> 
> Or perhaps an already outlined Fantasy AU with King Leon and his Knight Raihan? ;)
> 
> Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!


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